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I LIBRAKY OF COMII^ 






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I UNITED STATES OF AMEinCA.| 



I 



Heavenward Bound. 

Words of Help for Young Christians. 



BY 

OLIVE A. WADSWORTH, 

Author of " Bill Riggs, Jr.," etc. etc 






A PRIZE BOOK. 



PHILADELPHIA : 

PRESBYTERIAN PUBLICATION COMMITTEE, 

1334 CHESTNUT STREET. 

NEW YORK : A. D. F. RANDOLPH & CO., 77O BROADWAY. 



yl 






Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1870, by 

WM. L. HILDEBURN, Treasurer, 

in trust for the 

PRESBYTERIAN PUBLICATION COMMITTEE, 

In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, for the 
Eastern District of Pennsylvania. 



Westcott & Thomson, 
Stereoty^ers, Philada. 



*^ Christian saw a brave picture hang up against 
the wall J and this was the fashion of it : It had 
eyes lifted up to heaven, the best of books in his 
hand, the law of truth was written upon his lips, 
the world was behind his back; if stood as if if 
pleaded with men and a crown of gold did hang 
ever its heady 

3 



A Prize of Two Hundred and Fifty Dollars ^ 
offered for the best book, of small size, for the 
instruction of young converts, was awarded to 
** Heavenward Bound/' 

4 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Prefatory 7 

CHAPTER I. 
Conversion 9 

CHAPTER II. 
Growth IN THE Soul 25 

CHAPTER III. 
The Standard of Attainment 41 

CHAPTER IV. 
Christian Life — Spiritual and Practical 61 

CHAPTER V. 

Spiritual Life: Prayer Offered 73 

5 



6 Contents. 

CHAPTER VI. 

PAGB 

Spiritual Life: Prayer Answered 87 

CHAPTER VII. 
Spiritual Life: Bible Study 107 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Spiritual Life: Public Worship 123 

CHAPTER IX. 
Spiritual Life: Fruits of the Spirit 141 

CHAPTER X. 
Practical Life: The Christian at Home 155 

CHAPTER XI. 
Practical Life: The Christian in the World... 175 

CHAPTER XII. 
Practical Life: The Christian at Work 195 



PREFATORY. 



I HAVE been asked to write a book of counsel 
for young Christians — something that might 
serve as a little light in a dark place, a little 
staff over a rough road, or a little sign-board 
pointing to the true w^ay. 

But w^riting is not like talking. Dear faces, 
bright eyes, responsive voices, draw out one's 
thoughts like so many magnets, while blank, 
emotionless paper seems to still them with its 
cold stare. And yet there are outside the reach 
of the voice so many more than within it, that 
one must even do at last as the apostle John 
did, when he desired greatly to see his dear 
ones face to face, but yet was compelled with 
pen and ink to write unto them. 

And I am compelled ; for necessity is laid 
upon me—- yea, woe is unto me if I speak not 
loving words of gospel truth to young disciples. 
I love the children of the Lord, the younger 

7 



8 Prefatory. 

brothers and sisters of our great family ; they 
are the Josephs and Benjamins of our Israel, and 
my heart yearns over them, as Jacob's yearned 
over Joseph, and as Joseph^s melted w^ith tender- 
ness for Benjamin. 

Beloved young friends, let me indulge the 
fancy that I can see your earnest eyes turned 
toward me, and, for yourselves, take my words 
as lovingly as they are spoken. 



€mkxmn. 



" The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the 
sound thereof, but cattst not tell whence it cometh, and whither 
it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.'''' — ^John 
hi. 8. 

10 



HEAVENWARD BOUND. 



CHAPTER I. 

Co7zversio7z of the Soul. 

'THO enter upon the discussion of duties 
^ and employments belonging to the 
Christian life, without first speaking of the 
turning of the soul from death to that life, 
seems hardly rational : it is like passing 
over the first round of the ladder by which 
we ascend, and trying to begin with the 
second. It is this very turning of the soul 
itself, this wonderful change in its nature, 
which demands and introduces new habits 
of thought, purpose and action, and it is 
well to inquire what this change is and how 
it comes about. 

11 



12 Heavenward Bound. 

The simplest meaning of the word con- 
version is the '^ turning or changing from 
one state or condition to another, and in its 
full application does not refer merely to a 
person's speculative belief, but covers the 
whole tenor of his feelings and source of 
action." This may refer to a person's turn- 
ing from one political or social condition to 
another ; but where we apply the word to a 
religious process, we need a further and 
more definite explanation. What is this 
alteration that we must undergo ? what is it 
to come into the kingdom of God ? what is 
it to be converted? are among the first 
queries that arise in a thoughtful mind. 

Many times in different forms has the 
question been asked me. Sometimes by 
children, whose little hearts longed to be 
changed before they even understood the 
process. Sometimes by the very ignorant, 
fearing in their darkness and humility lest 
they should fall into error. Sometimes by 
anxious, intelligent minds, sincerely de- 



Conversion of the Soul. 13 

siring to understand, and yet bewildered 
and almost misled by the technical phrases 
of theologians. Sometimes by the petulant, 
half-interested, half-skeptical reasoner, who 
repudiates what he calls *' dogmas and for- 
mulas," and demands the kernel of the 
matter in plain English that simple minds 
can easily grasp. Laying aside then all 
doctrinal phrases and every metaphysical 
or theological form of expression, we will 
look simply and candidly at the word of 
God. The Scriptures teach us that the 
conversion of the soul is a process in three 
parts : first, there must be a sense of want 
in ourselves — a conviction of our deep need 
of salvation ; secondly, there must be an 
absolute belief that Jesus the Son of God is 
the one true and only Saviour, and holds 
the remedy we need ; thirdly, there must be 
a solemn giving of ourselves to him, and 
an accepting of him in return as our Re- 
deemer. We may discuss the matter, vary 
it, expatiate upon it as we will, but it all 



14 Heavenward Bound, 

returns at last to these three simple propo- 
sitions. 

Let the feeling of our need come In what- 
ever way it may — through sickness, through 
bereavement, through the gradual percep- 
tion of God's mighty love, through the faith- 
ful preaching of the gospel, or the winning 
voice of the Holy Spirit in our heart — it must 
assuredly first come before we can heartily 
desire the help, the strength and the cleans- 
ing that only Christ can give. Many go as 
far as this point, and stop. They know 
they want something beyond themselves — 
something higher, better, more satisfying; 
they need something to supply their de- 
ficiencies, and lift them up into harmony 
with their Maker, and through ignorance or 
willful blindness they turn to every source 
but the right one. They put themselves in 
bondage to forms and ceremonies, and fast 
and use long prayers, or they force them- 
selves to a rigid performance of external 
duties and occupations, or they seek relief 



Conversion of the SouL 15 

in intellectual stimulants, in social enjoy- 
ments, or perhaps in. still lower pursuits. 
Like the prodigal of old, they try to fill 
themselves with food only fit for inferior 
natures, instead of going direct to their 
Father's house ; they seek to appease their 
craving with husks, while all the time He 
who alone can satisfj'' the hunger of the 
immortal soul — He who said of himself in 
those wonderful, de^p-meaning words, *' I 
am the bread of life" — stands by with patient 
tenderness, waiting to give them of that 
bread and of the water of life freely. 

Others still, who feel their need of salva- 
tion and reverence Christ as the Redeemer 
of the world, stop short here and go no 
further. They neither expect nor hope for 
safety outside of him ; they probably mean 
some day to take the last step that seals 
their safety, and accept him personally as 
their Saviour : in the mean time, they are 
ahnost Christians, but not quite. Are there 
not many such scattered through the house- 



1 6 Heavenward Bound, 

holds of our land, and worshiping in our 
churches on the Sabbath? — lovely, pleas- 
ant, honorable men and women, who verily 
are not far from the kingdom of God, and 
yet are not in it. When the last day comes, 
it will, alas, be found too late, that not to 
be with Christ is to be against him ; that to 
be only almost in the kingdom of heaven is 
to be shut out of it for ever. 

When the third and final step is taken, 
when the soul is given to God, its powers 
consecrated to his service, and his appointed 
plan of salvation through Christ personally 
accepted, the process is complete, and in 
common parlance conversion has taken 
place. 

The Spirit of God seems to work in almost 
as many ways as there are individual Chris- 
tians, and none should doubt the genuine- 
ness of the change in themselves, simply 
because its record cannot be made to tally 
with that of others. A great many most 
earnest and faithful disciples find it impos- 



Conversion of the SouL 17 

sible to tell even when the change was 
going on within them ; while others can 
point directly to a certain event, and say, 
*' That sermon, or that prayer, or that dis- 
pensation of Providence, was the apparent 
means of bringing me to God." From the 
flower of grace, opening in tender baby 
hearts, to the palm of victory, won after life- 
long conflict by aged, trembling hands, 
there is every possible variety and phase of 
conversion. 

A lovely old lady said once, regarding 
one of her daughters, who was a most de- 
votedly pious person, that she could never 
remember the time when she was not a 
Christian. *^I am sure," she said, ''she 
was converted before she could talk. She 
was not only a Christian child, but a Chris- 
tian baby, and her first broken lispings 
showed a tender little conscience and a heart 
full of love to God and man." 

In the other extreme is a confession, lis- 
tened to a few days ago by the side of a 



i8 Heavenward Bound. 

dying bed, where poverty, ignorance, age 
and mortal disease combined to oppress the 
sufferer. ''It has been a long, dark strug- 
gle," she said. ''I have been feeling for 
the light so long ! For more than twenty 
years I've had little thoughts about God in 
my heart; little thoughts about his being 
very good and caring even for me ; little 
thoughts about how I would like to know 
him better, and try to love him and please 
him. But there was no one to tell me how, 
no one to help, and I've been almost tired 
waiting ! And now he himself has made 
it all plain. Jesus has shown me the way ; 
he has put me in it ; it takes me to him !" 
And the wan lips smiled, and the faded face 
shone with the peace of God. 

If we recall a few of the conversions re- 
corded in Scripture, their wonderful variety 
of manner manifests itself at once. Paul 
was changed almost instantaneously by a 
miraculous appearance — a heavenly vision 
of the very Jesus whom he was persecuting. 



Conversion of the Soul. 19 

Timothy knew the Scriptures from a child, 
and was a thoroughly well drilled little 
Bible scholar, with mother Eunice and 
grandmother Lois always ready to teach 
him and talk with him. Lydia's heart the 
Lord opened, and with a gentle readiness 
she attended unto the things spoken by 
PauL The jailer believed with fear and 
trembling, and Cornelius, that devout man, 
feared God, gave alms, and prayed always, 
for many years before the Holy Spirit was 
sent to him and his knowledge of the way 
of life was made perfect. 

So we see there may be many methods 
of conversion, but the same spirit working 
in all ; many ways of receiving the truth, 
but the same truth accepted by all ; many 
divers circumstances surrounding the soul 
in its onward journey, but the same faithful 
Saviour receiving it at the end of its pil 
grimage. 

We sometimes hear those who aim to be 
liberal rather than spiritual speaking of 



20 Heavenward Botuzd, 

what they call the narrow views of Chris- 
tians, '' as if," they say, ''no one could get 
to the truth except in just their way." In 
fact, it is but a few days since I overheard 
two persons sitting behind me in the cars 
talking together upon that very subject. 
''I believe there are more ways than one 
of getting to heaven," said one of them. 
*'I do not believe salvation is shut up in 
this Church or that Church or any Church. 
No creed that ever was made will take a 
man there. Bigoted people may talk as 
they like, but I've no patience with such 
narrow-minded prejudice ! There are more 
ways than one of getting to heaven !" 

He spoke not only strongly, but bitterly, 
and I pitied him. For if there were so 
many ways, and he knew them, why could 
he not quietly take the one that suited him 
best without feeling bitter toward those who 
were inoffensively taking another? But the 
tones of his voice showed that he was fight- 
ing against his conscience; he was kicking 



Conversion of the SouL zi 

against the pricks, and it was hard for him 
as it was for Saul. So I listened and pitied 
him in silence. We were just then ap- 
proaching a junction, where several other 
lines of railway crossed our own at different 
angles, and as we stood waiting for another 
train to pass, I ran my eyes along the narrow 
iron ways as far as I could see. Upon one 
side they converged more and more closely 
as they approached their common termina- 
tion, the great city we had left behind us. 
On the other they diverged rapidly, one 
crossing a distant river that was but just 
within sight ; another following its course 
through level green meadows ; a third, far 
away from either, stretching on, up between 
the hills and old gray rocks. My fancy 
wandered on beyond the limits of sight, and 
carried me along those level rails, through 
cities, villages, farm lands and forests, over 
wide prairies, through rocky passes and 
along flat, sandy deserts. Everywhere the 
same strong, even, well-laid, narrow way; 



22 Heavenward Bound. 

without it the best-constructed engine could 
make no progress, and could only be a pant- 
ing, struggling, helpless thing, full of unused 
power, and utterly failing of its end. But 
give it the narrow track, which alone can 
serve its purpose, and its progress is assured. 
It passes indifferently through forest soli- 
tudes or the din of cities, through all cli- 
mates, all soils, all scenes, in summer and 
winter, by day and by night, and safely 
reaches its destination at last. 

It is but a homely illustration — and yet at 
that moment it seemed to my mind a forcible 
one— of the progress of the soul toward 
heaven. There is in truth but one way — 
one narrow way — that leads it thither ; its 
course may run through widely varied 
scenes, through any nation or clime or 
Church, through joy or sorrow, health or 
sickness, wealth or poverty, but the way by 
which it journeys is Christ alone, and the end 
to which it tends is that blessed home above, 
prepared by him for those who love him. 



Conversion of the Soul. 23 

So long then as we feel that Christ is 
indeed to our souls the way, the truth and 
the life, we need be troubled about nothing 
in the manner of our conversion, but rather 
strive to perfect the work of grace begun in 
us by every means that God has given, re- 
membering his promise, that ^^he that shall 
endure unto the end shall be saved," 

The story is told of a young man that 
soon after his conversion he confided the 
account of his spiritual experiences to his 
mother, and, having listened with deep in- 
terest, she answered in return : ''AH Chris- 
tian graces may be counterfeited. Your 
love may be only a selfish love ; your faith 
may be the faith that trembles ; your hope 
and joy may be without a true foundation ; 
but do not be discouraged, for there is one 
grace you can never counterfeit." ''What 
is that, mother?" he asked. "The grace 
of perseverance," she replied. 

To continue in well-doing is the thing 
that most concerns us. The past we have 



24 Heavenward Bound, 

nothing more to do with ; it has slipped 
completely out of our hands ; and for the 
future, who shall boast himself of the mor- 
row? But the present, the living present, 
the wonderful now^ which God has called 
the accepted time, is ours. Let us use it 
with faithful diligence, going on from hour 
to hour as he shall lead us, forgetting that 
which is behind, and pressing toward that 
which is before, bearing ever in mind the 
w^ords which Jesus spoke to those which be- 
lieved on him : '' If ye continue in my word, 
then are ye my disciples indeed." 



(ir^totl in tlje Bml 



25 



" Like a tree planted by the rivers of water ^ that bringeth 
forth his fruit in his season.^'' — Ps. i. 3. 
26 



CHAPTER IL 

Growth in the Soul, 

/^^NE of the most essential elements of 
^^^ Christian life is growth : or, to speak 
more accurately, it is a vital necessity, for 
without it there can be no true life, either 
physical, mental or spiritual. Wherever we 
look in the world of nature, we see ex- 
pansion, accretion and development; and 
when a living thing ceases to grow, it 
begins to die. 

In a plant, the dew, the rain, the sun, the 
tiny atoms of varied nutriment which are 
incessantly sucked from the ground by its 
rootlets, all tend to nourish it; the stalk 
pushes up, the leaves unfold, the buds swell, 
the flowers expand, the seed-vessel forms, 
the seeds mature, and, its full end being 
accomplished, the plant stops growing and 

27 



28 Heavenward Bound. 

withers slowly away. In a child the ex- 
pansion of bone and muscle, the increase in 
height, breadth and weight, goes on often 
with astonishing rapidity, and when the 
body has attained its full size, the youth 
has, in popular language, finished growing. 
But does he in reality stop here? No; for 
now, as much as ever, does he need con- 
stant supplies of wholesome food to repair 
the continual waste that is going on within 
him. Play-days are over, and the work of 
life begins. The body toils, and in its daily 
action loses just so much actual strength 
and substance, which must be reinforced ; 
the brain spends itself, and must be replen- 
ished. The hours of labor grow longer and 
longer, the period of rest shorter, and, even 
in that time of repose, the same work of 
change and growth goes on. The food 
which is eaten is divided by the process of 
digestion into good and bad, and while one 
is discarded as worthless, the other is taken 
into the blood and carried with its ceaseless 



Growth in the Soul. 29 

current to every minutest portion of the body 
to reimburse its constant expenditure. 

A very clever French physiologist, Jean 
Mace,* tells us that a man in health eats 
three times his own w^eight in the course of 
a year, and that the greater part of all this 
nutriment goes to supply the daily waste of 
flesh and tissue. The fire must have fuel, 
or it cannot burn, and when there is nothing 
more to feed the flame, it dies out. Hugh 
Miller, in one of his books, speaks of his 
writings in a tone of pleasantry as being the 
parings or shavings of his brain, and the 
expression is almost literally, as well as 
figuratively, true. 

The immutable law of growth is just as 
absolute, though less perceptible, in spiritual 
things. Our Saviour compares the growing 
of grace in the heart to that of the corn in 
the field : first the blade, then the ear, then 
the full corn in the ear. In the beginning 

■^ Author of a charming book for young readers, entitled 
** A Mouthful of Bread, and its Effect on Man." 



30 Heaveizward Bou7td. 

it is a tender plant, sometimes as tiny as the 
grain of mustard-seed, which yet often de- 
velops into such size and strength that the 
fowls of the air lodge in its branches. 

If our souls are to grow in spiritual things, 
we must give them all the essential condi- 
tions of growth : first, by setting them free 
from everything that can check their de- 
velopment ; and secondly, by exposing them 
to every favoring influence that 'can foster 
it. 

As we would pluck away the weeds that 
threatened to choke a daint}^ flower, so must 
we cast away every hindrance to spiritual 
advancement. If there be an evil passion, 
however knit into our characters ; a hurtful 
companion, however dear ; a noxious amuse- 
ment, however fascinating; a self-indulg- 
ence that has become a part of ourselves ; 
a folly, a vanity, a weakness, anything, no 
matter what, that bars the soul in its prog- 
ress ; — let it be thrust away without one 
murmur or one regret. ''If thine eye offend 



Growth in the SouL 31 

thee (that is, cause thee to err), pluck it 
out," says the divine Word. '' Nearer, my 
God, to thee, nearer to thee," is the longing 
of every loving heart, and that w^hich brings 
it nearer is a willing sacrifice. It is only 
like throwing over the surplus lading of a 
ship, which may be worth something in 
itself, but which becomes valueless when it 
weighs the vessel down and stays or en- 
dangers its onward course. 

Secondly, let us open our hearts wide, 
and invite all those influences and exercises 
which God has provided as a means of 
progress. These divide themselves natu- 
rally into two classes — those which relate to 
our inner life, and those which belong more 
especially to our external life. 

In the former, which might almost be 
called the private life of the soul, we com- 
prise faithful daily prayer and Bible-read- 
ing, the stated services of the church to 
which we belong, religious conversation, 
meditation upon holy things, and the culti- 



32 Heavenward Bound. 

vation of a meek and Chrlst-like spirit. 
For the outer life there must be the stead- 
fast fulfillment of every duty belonging to 
the sphere in which God has placed us, 
helpful, cheerful ways to those around us, 
the active exercise of Christian benevolence 
according to our opportunity, and the up- 
holding and encouraging of every good 
work going on about us, to the utmost extent 
of our ability. 

Then, when we have done what we can, 
we may rest assured that God will do his 
share. He pours out his spirit in answer to 
our prayers ; he opens our eyes to behold 
wondrous things out of his law. When those 
who love the Lord speak often one to another 
of him, he hearkens, and a book of remem- 
brance is written before him for them that 
think upon his name.* And for help in all 
external acts of Christian beneficence or 
usefulness, he has given us these blessed 
words of encouragement: ^'Inasmuch as 

* MalacH iii. i6. 



Growth in the SouL 33 

ye have done it unto the least of these my 
brethren, ye have done it unto me." 

But w^hile we earnestly desire to grow, 
we must be careful that the process is 
equable, so that we may finally attain unto 
the perfect man, ''the stature of the fullness 
of Christ." 

It is a pitiable thing to be a one-sided, 
crotchety Christian, developed morbidly in 
some directions, and defective or totally 
lacking in others ; yet we often see persons 
whose religious character has suffered such 
a twist, such an ungainly curvature, as al- 
most to merit the name of a spiritual mal- 
formation. 

The foolish mother among the Flathead 
Indians, who lashes a piece of wood to her 
baby's soft, little, immature head, cannot 
prevent the growth of the bones which com- 
pose it ; she can only repress it in a certain 
direction, and Nature avenges the wrong by 
extending it in others, and so producing, by 
the period of maturity, a hideously flattened 



34 Heavemvard Bound. 

and imbecile-looking head. And in China, 
the babies of respectable rank pay for the 
advantage of good birth by having their 
compressible, little, high-born feet forced 
into the tiniest possible compass by torturing 
ligatures. They endure years of suffering 
before the end is accomplished. When the 
tight bandages are taken off, instead of a 
comely, elastic foot, surmounted by a shapely 
ankle, there is only a miserable, rudiment- 
ary little paw overhung by a monstrous 
mass of fat. All that should have gone to 
nourish and expand the foot being excluded 
from it took refuge naturally in the ankle, 
and both are deformed. 

We are so much the creatures of sight 
and sense that while we pity and regret 
deformity of the body, we sometimes come 
nigh forgetting the vastly greater import of 
the crooks and twists of the moral nature. 
But if we open our eyes only to a part of 
God's dealings and shut them to others ; if 
we open our ears to part of his teachings 



Growth i7i the Soul, 35 

and deafen them to others ; if we fasten our 
faith to any external form, to the opinions 
of man or to any earthly standard whatever ; 
we certainly are binding about our souls a 
ligature that will inevitably repress spiritual 
growth in one way or another. 

Sometimes people dwell upon and brood 
over one portion of God's word, for in- 
stance, till they can scarcely see any other. 
It is not long since I met a conscientious 
woman, whose belief in the overruling hand 
of God was so great that it had become the 
dominant idea of her life ; it swallowed up 
everything else, and she had come to think 
of it almost as the Turks think of their 
^'kismet" — the fate that comes inevitably 
upon them, do what they will. In circum- 
stances that demanded the utmost vigilance 
and labor, the most prompt and energetic 
action, she would actually do nothing. ''The 
Lord's will must be done," she said, ''and 
we have only to wait." 

Now we know there are times in God's 



36 Heavenward Bound. 

dealings with us when we can do nothing 
but wait — when he himself so ties and fetters 
us that our part seems simply to acquiesce 
in what he does ; and thousands of patient 
hearts have throbbed in submissive sym- 
pathy with the last line of Milton's sonnet 
upon his blindness : 

" They also serve who only stand and wait." 

But we may be sure, if God meant us always 
to ''stand and wait/' he would never have 
said to us, ''Strive, watch, work, pray, feed 
the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, 
preach the gospel." 

There are others — who are surely very 
unhappy Christians — who seem to have lost 
sight of the wonderful tenderness and love 
of the almighty Father through the con- 
stant consideration of his attributes as 
Creator, Sovereign and Judge. They cher- 
ish terrible views of an offended and aveng- 
ing God, forgetting the pitying kindness 
that shines through all his dealings with us, 



Growth in the Soul. 37 

and that he is, in fact, a Father reconciled 
to us through Christ our Lord. It is a fear- 
ful thing so to misjudge God's great heart 
of love. '' Thou knewest I was an austere 
man/' are the solemn words of condemna- 
tion in the parable, '' and out of thine own 
mouth will I judge thee." 

Many other Christians bind themselves 
to some external mode of service or to a 
rigid routine of formal duty ; but Mr. Le- 
gality, in the '' Pilgrim's Progress," did not 
suffer one-half as much in his bondage as 
they in theirs ; for he was but a hypocrite, 
while they are conscientiously holding fast 
to the very impediments which check the 
growth they truly desire. 

We see, therefore, that many beliefs and 
practices, right and scriptural in them- 
selves, may lead us into error when dwelt 
upon to the exclusion of others and sepa- 
rated from the whole word of God, which 
in its entirety is so admirably adapted to 
meet every want of the immortal soul. "All 



38 Heavenward Bound. 

Scripture is given by inspiration of God, 
and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, 
for correction, for instruction in righteous- 
ness, that the man of God may be perfect, 
thoroughly furnished unto all good works." 
''These things ought ye to have done,'' 
said Jesus, ''and not to leave the others 
undone." 

And now^, to secure this free development 
of a full Christian life, this thorough fur- 
nishing unto all good works, what shall we 
do and what shall we avoid doing? It is 
evident that the less dependence we place 
upon outward things — whatever they may 
be, whether forms of service, rules of action, 
the opinions of men or human models of 
excellence — and the nearer we draw to 
Christ, the higher and holier, the fuller and 
more perfect, our lives will be. The more 
directly we stand in the rays of the sun, 
the stronger the light and warmth we re- 
ceive ; the nearer we go to the fountain- 
head, the purer the water we quaff. The 



Growth in ^he Soul. 39 

closer we draw to Christ, our great Sun and 
Fountain of life, the more fully we receive 
of his grace, his purity, his love, his all- 
sufficing righteousness. 

He himself has given us the secret of 
growth — of free, rapid, healthy, satisfying 
growth — in three little words, ''^ Abide in 
meJ^'^ ^^ As the branch cannot bear fruit of 
itself, except it abide in the vine, no more 
can ye, except ye abide in me. I am the 
Vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth 
in me, and I in him, the same bringeth 
forth much fruit, for without me ye can do 
nothing." 

To abide in Him now is to abide in him 
for ever, for the choice of Christ as our rest 
and our abode extends through time into 
eternity. If we would be like him upon 
earth, and live with him hereafter, let his 
solemn, loving, all-embracing words be in- 
delibly engraven upon our willing hearts : 
** Abide in me.^^ 



%\t StankrlJ si ^iimmwl 



*^As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according 
to the former lusts in your ignorance ; but as He which hath 
called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversa* 
tion ; because it is written. Be ye holy, for I am holy,^"* — 
I Pet. i. 14-16. 
42 



CHAPTER III. 

The Sta7idard of Attainment • 

T T is necessary for the rational pursuit of 
-^ any object to have a definite end in view, 
toward which our efforts point and in which 
they are finally to culminate. The architect 
ainis at the substantial and tasteful con- 
struction of a building ; the farmer concen- 
trates his efforts on securing a certain crop 
at a given time ; the mariner uses his best 
skill to bring a valuable cargo safely to a 
destined port ; the general bends every en- 
ergy to achieve victory for his troops. Aim- 
less building, farming, saiHng and marching 
would ensure such absurd results as to merit 
a place of honor in the world of chance that 
Hafet dreamed of. As in worldly things a 
definite aim is necessary to induce the vig- 
orous, well-directed, patient labor which 

43 



44 Heavenward Bound, 

alone can secure success, so in spiritual 
things it is as much more important as the 
worth of the soul outweighs that of the 
body. 

The remark is often made by religious 
writers and speakers of the present day 
that the prevailing standard of personal re- 
ligion among Christians is far below what it 
ought to be ; and the truth of the observa- 
tion may be easily proved by looking a little 
at our neighbors and still more at ourselves. 
As a nation, as congregations, as families, 
as individuals, how much less holy, wise 
and Christ-like are we than we ought to 
be! 

Not only do religious writers speak of it 
with regret, but those who are pleased to 
find cause of reproach in the state of the 
Church comment on it without reserve. We 
give the enemies of the truth a vantage- 
ground that they do not fail to occupy. 
Some time ago- — in one of the British re- 
views, I think — there was a satirical remark 



The Standard of Attainment. 45 

by a very clever but irreligious writer which 
struck me as being not wholly unmerited. 
He divides all Christians into three great 
classes — the Attitudinarians, the Latitudi- 
narians and the Platitudinarians. We may 
evade the first charge by deeming the moral 
to be pointed more particularly at those of 
our fellow-Christians who belong to churches 
where the forms and ceremonies may some- 
times devour the substance, as the lean kine 
devoured the fat kine ; and the external rites 
— the outside, the attitude^ in short — become 
pre-eminent. 

And the second charge we may succeed 
in shifting upon the accommodating shoul- 
ders of our '' liberal" friends upon the other 
flank, who love broad views and an un- 
bounded creed. 

But when it comes to the third charge, 
how many among us would dare to stand 
boldly up and plead ''Not guilty!" For 
my own part, I can only hope that God will 
forgive us for making our religion and his 



46 Heavenward Boicnd. 

service such a dull, flat, commonplace thing 
as we often do. 

God has commanded us to love him not 
only with all our hearty but with all our 
7niiid; he united the intellectual faculties 
with the moral affections, and what God 
joined together men are continually putting 
asunder. Although there has been a great 
change of sentiment on this subject within 
a few years, we need vast improvement still. 
We are too apt to think that if a hymn, for 
instance, is pious, it need not be poetical ; 
if a sermon is scriptural, it may be as dull 
as the American Annals ; if a book is or- 
thodox, it may be wretched in style and 
stupid in substance ; when the fact is that 
hymn and sermon and book, or whatever 
else we do or say for God's glory or the 
good of men, should receive all the know- 
ledge, the quickness, the wit, the talent and 
the time that we can give to it. It is not 
enough that a thing is good simply in a 
pious sense ; the better it is in that way, the 



The Standard of Attainment. 47 

worse the fault in us to let it be deficient in 
other ways. 

A very successful young minister once 
said to me that there had been a strange 
omission in his training as a preacher. " In 
all the teaching of my theological course*," 
he said; "in all the sermons I have listened 
to on that subject ; in all the advice I have 
had from older ministers, — I have received 
almost every imaginable counsel : I have 
been entreated to be orthodox, to be scrip- 
tural, to be simple, to be practical, to be 
personal ; but nobody ever enjoined it upon 
me to be inter es ting — and what good can 
all the rest do without it? If you cannot 
interest your hearers, your words fall to the 
ground." He had learned the secret, how- 
ever, as almost every preacher or teacher 
does learn it whose heart is bent on doing 
good to the utmost of his power. 

God certainly helps those who look to 
him not only to be good, but to be wise, to 
attract others, to draw hearts and win souls ; 



48 Heavenward Bound, 

and I believe it lies within our power not 
only to preach better sermons and write 
better books, but also to infuse far greater 
vitality, warmth and interest into the simple 
daily life of the soul. We are told not to 
despise the day of small things, but we are 
nowhere bidden to be satisfied with it ; but 
rather to press forward, to shine more and 
more, to go from strength to strength, and 
to be content only when we are perfect as 
He is perfect. 

If we look at some of the causes which 
have tended to lower the standard of Chris- 
tian life among us, it may help us the better 
to apply the remedies. In our own country 
we see very plainly that a species of re- 
ligious insubordination, if it may be so 
called, has arisen as a direct reaction from 
the extreme rigor that was exercised in such 
matters a century or more ago. 

One extreme invariably produces another. 
The exiles who sought in the wilderness of 
America to secure for themselves and their 



The Standard of Attain77ient* 49 

children a home, where they might establish 
a ''Church without a bishop and a State 
without a king," were themselves in a state 
of reaction from the reckless, godless license 
of that Church and State from which they 
were escaping. 

The rebound from lawlessness was into 
too much law. The recoil from unprin- 
cipled levity was into a rigid austerity ; and 
men noble, pure and sincere beyond re- 
proach, were led by the overstrained con- 
dition of heart and brain into an unwise 
severity of dress, speech and manner — into 
harshness of private discipline and public 
government. 

We smile now at the angularity of some 

of their rules of action and at the laws 

framed in those days, yet we ourselves may 

learn a lesson from them — a lesson that the 

world has been long in acquiring — namely, 

that consciences must be guided^ not forced ; 

led^ and not driven. There are cases where 

we are compelled to make such rules, 
4 



50 Heavenward Bouitd. 

because children and inferiors have not 
enough judgment or experience to enable 
them to live without them ; but in all in- 
stances the sooner true principles of right 
and wrong can be instilled into their hearts, 
and a consciousness of individual responsi- 
bility to God established, the sooner rules 
may be discarded and the happier and better 
for all concerned. 

Principles are like the ever-ascending 
sap in a young tree — an incessantly active, 
vital power that penetrates to every tiny leaf 
and twig and urges it to healthy growth. 
Rules are like the firm-set stake to which 
we tie the sapling to keep it upright in its 
tender years. If we imagine a rather in- 
dependent young tree, quite disdaining its 
external prop, feeling that the time has come 
when it can stand alone, and, in its haste to 
be free, bending so far away from the 
stake as to acquire a decided curve in the 
opposite direction, we shall have a figure 
of the way in which it seems to me that 



The Standard of Attainment, 51 

some of the rigidity and sternness of our 
forefathers are showing their reactive effects 
in the easy, liberal, too careless views of 
many Christians of the present day. 

There is another reason spoken of by Dr. 
Goulburn in his excellent '^ Thoughts" on 
this subject, which applies to the standard 
of religion in all Christian countries.* 

''Is it not the case," he says, " that there 
is a singular analogy between the present 
state of knowledge and of piety ; that in 
this age literature and religion fare much 
alike? In what were called the Dark Ages, 
literature was the monopoly of the few; 
gross ignorance was the condition of the 
many. It is not so any longer. Every one 
knows .a little: few know much. Is it not 
the same w^ith piety? The great saints of 

^"Thoughts on Personal Religion," by E. M. Goul- 
burn, D.D. The writer of this admirable book, being a 
clergyman of the Church of England, has some views in- 
cident to his position (especially as regards Communion and 
Confirmation) which, of course, are not in unison with our 
own 5 otherwise his teachings are most excellent* 



\ 



52 Heavenward Bound, 

primitive times stand out like stars in the 
firmament of the Church, all the brighter 
for the darkness of heathenism or of super- 
stition which surrounds them. But the tend- 
ency of modern times has been to diffuse 
among many the piety which was once con- 
centrated in the few. The public are re- 
ligious as a public ; but in individuals the 
salt has lost its savor. Everybody can 
speak volubly upon controversial subjects ; 
but where are the men upon whose hearts 
the truth, which is at stake in controversies, 
is making every day by means of prayer 
and meditation a deeper imprint? 

*' Is there any flaw in our ministry which 
may In some measure account for the low 
standard of personal religion on which we 
have been commenting? We fear there is. 
We believe that the Christian ministry hav- 
ing, by God's design and constitution, two 
arms wherewith to do Its work, one of these 
arms has become paralyzed by Inactivity. 
We believe that its ofiice being twofold — to 



The Standard of Attainmeitt, 53 

rouse consciences and to guide them — we 
have for a long time past contented our- 
selves with rousing, while we have done 
scarcely anything to guide them. The im- 
pression has been that people know every- 
thing about Christian duty, and have no 
need to be enlicrhtened on that head. And 
if by Christian duty be meant simply the 
moral law of God in its outward literal 
aspect, perhaps the impression is more or 
less correct, at least as regards the educated 
classes. But if by Christian duty be meant 
sanctity of life and character and a growing 
conformity to the image of the Lord Jesus, 
we must be pardoned for expressing our 
conviction that our best and most respect- 
able congregations have very little insight 
into the thing itself, and still less into the 
method of its attainment." 

Dr. Goulburn's remarks recall the w^ords 
of a very excellent minister on the subject 
of admitting young persons into the Church. 
^'We cannot let them enter too early," he 



54 Heavenward Bound, 

said, ^'if we only continue to guide and 
teach them ; but the trouble is, we gather 
our lambs into the fold and then starve 
them. The good Shepherd, who called 
himself also the door of the sheep, said 
that all who entered in by him should be 
saved, and should go in and out and find 
-pasture. But our poor lambs we leave to 
themselves, to feed or famish as they may. 
Let us feed the lambs, nourish them, sus- 
tain them, lead them, and then it matters 
not how young or ignorant they may be at 
first." 

There is another cause still to be found 
for the low standard of personal religion in 
the facility of the Christian life in our days, 
its smoothness and lack of self-denial. 
The way is wide open, persecution has 
ceased, restrictions are removed and the 
world respects rather than despises a con- 
sistently religious man. Wisdom's ways are 
ways of pleasantness and all her paths are 
peace. Her warfare is within and not with- 



The Standard of Attaimnent, 55 

out, for her external foes are vanquished or 
changed to friends. 

But it pleases me to think that, if necessity 
should arise, men would suffer and die for 
the name of Christ as unflinchingly now as 
in the days of the martyrs. When our civil 
war broke out a few years ago, taking us 
unawares, in the midst of peace, w^e were a 
quiet, busy people, given to trade, manu- 
factures, arts and professions — as un warlike, 
apparently as unfit for martial conflict, as a 
people could possibly be. But as soon as 
there became a necessity for action, for self- 
sacrifice and endurance of hardship, thou- 
sands of hearts awoke and responded to the 
call. The love of country and fealty to its 
laws kindled and burned at the first breath 
of insult; and our home-bred, soft-looking, 
easy-going civilians proved themselves ca- 
pable of the patience, courage and firmness 
of veterans. Hardships, sickness, wounds 
and death they met without a murmur. 
The more immense the demand upon them, 



56 Heaven-ward Bound, 

the more heroic and unflinching they be- 
came. 

I believe it is the same thing with many 
Christians of the present day ; they appear 
indifferent, apathetic and slothful, because 
there is no external opposition to rouse them 
into action ; but if such a shock should ever 
come, they would prove themselves true 
soldiers of the cross. But, after all, what 
a strange apology is this to make for luke- 
warmness and inactivity ! It is the same as 
saying that because God has made the way 
easy, we will love him less ; because he has 
removed barriers, we will serve him sloth- 
fully ; because his mercy has been so great, 
our devotion shall be diminished. Shall we 
thus actually tempt God to chasten us by 
our lethargy in time of prosperity? Rather 
let us endeavor to reach the highest standard 
of Christian holiness that God has set before 
us, and thank him daily that the path has 
been made so plain and so peaceful. 

It is of vital importance to us to deter- 



The Standard of Attainment. 57 

mine what that standard is toward which 
w^e are to dimb. The Scriptures present to 
us many examples of goodness worthy of 
imitation : Moses was meek ; Job was pa- 
tient ; Solomon was wise ; David was pray- 
erful ; Peter was zealous ; John was loving. 
No better human models can probably be 
found, and yet, alas ! the very virtue for 
which each was pre-eminently renowned 
failed to maintain itself consistently in times 
of trial. Moses beat the rock with his rod, 
broke the tables of stone and slew an 
Egyptian in anger. Job was long-endur- 
ing, but under severe and repeated trial his 
patience failed, and he cursed the day he 
was born. Solomon was wise, but what a 
pitiful lack of understanding he displayed 
in cleaving to the strange wives and strange 
gods that beguiled him from the truth ! 
David prayed with true fervor, but that he did 
not always watch as well as pray is evident 
from his life. Peter's zeal w^as warm and 
sincere, yet he denied the very Master he 



58 Heavenward Bound. 

loved so deeply. John was gentle, tender 
and loving, but, had not Jesus forbidden 
him, he would have commanded fire from 
heaven to destroy the Samaritan village that 
would not receive the Saviour. 

Among men there is none righteous — no, 
not one. If there had been — if but one in- 
dividual of our race could have fulfilled the 
law and satisfied the requirements of God — 
we should never have needed the vast sac- 
rifice of the Son of God, who was offered 
to bear the sins of many and to fulfill all 
righteousness for us. There is no earthly 
model for us to imitate — no perfect example 
anywhere among the sons of men : he alone 
who bore pre-eminently the title of the Son 
of man, as well as that of the Son of God, 
can serve as our standard of true holiness. 

No matter how far above us he may 
stand, we need not be discouraged by that, 
for he himself has promised to aid us. 
What succor, what refuge, could we find, 
were our Rock not higher than we? We 



The Standard of Attainment. 59 

can be like him in character, if not truly to 
the same degree ; the same 7niiid may be in 
us that is in him, though ours be feeble with 
mortal littleness, while his is great and bright 
wdth divine glory. A low aim gives but low 
results ; let us therefore aspire to the highest 
and best ; let the Christian watchword be 
Excelsior ! climbing higher and higher, 
reaching upward and onward, leaving earth- 
ly things behind, and seeing for the pattern 
of our daily life no man, but Jesus only. 

His mortal life spreads itself out before us 
as the one faultless, heaven-imprinted life 
on earth. His early days were full of obe- 
dience and gentleness, submission to the 
authority of home, a daily increase in wis- 
dom and such lovely graces of mind and 
heart as won the favor of God and man. 
His maturity possessed an infinite patience, 
unfailing tenderness for the sick and sad, 
pity and beseeching words for the erring, 
free forgiveness for bitter enemies, ceaseless 
charity, loving deeds, vast self-denial, per- 



6o Heavenward Bound. 

feet beneficenee, fervent prayer and radiant 
peace. But how can we speak of the cha- 
racter of Jesus in a sentence, in a chapter, 
or in a volume even?* Let us daily seek 
the record of his words and deeds in the 
Scriptures he has given us ; and praying for 
full comprehension of their wondrous grace 
and fullness, by the help of the Spirit draw 
nearer and nearer to him, our perfect Exam- 
ple, knowing that if here on earth we can 
never reach the height for which we strive, 
he will at last lift us up unto himself, and we 
shall ^'be satisfied when we awake in his 
likeness.'* 

■^ The beautiful chapter on this subject in Dr. Bushnell's 
** Nature and the Supernatural," is now published in a small 
volume by itself, called " The Character of Jesus." 



CInstian fife — Spntwal anJj |ractital 

61 



'^If ye love me, keep my commandments »'' — ^John xiv. 15. 
62 



CHAPTER IV. 



Christian Life — Spiritual and Practical, 

^ I ^HE fully-developed life of a Christian 
-*- is a twofold existence, whose diverse 
aspects are indicated in the words of our 
Saviour used above. There must be the 
emotions of the heart, beating wuth love to 
God, and the external action required in the 
keeping of his commandments. One is 
the inner, the other the outer life ; one is the 
spiritual, the other the practical existence ; 
one has its exponent in faith, the other in 
works ; but however satisfactorily we may 
be able to divide the two in discussion, in 
reality they should always be united. 

The receptive and meditative faculties are 
most used in all that pertains to the inner 
life, while that which concerns the outer 

63 



64 Heavenward Bound. 

employs the active and energetic qualities 
of the mind. The soul must first receive 
before It can give forth again ; and In pro- 
portion as the spiritual life is deep, holy and 
fervent, the practical life will be faithful, 
fruitful and Christ-like. 

There are, without doubt, some excep- 
tions to this rule, as In the case of timid 
persons, whose faith Is sincere, but w^eak, 
and who shrink from all outward assertion 
of allegiance to their Master ; or, in that of 
less worthy individuals, whose love of ac- 
tivity, natural benevolence or desire to pro- 
duce an Impression of some kind Induces 
them to engage in works of beneficence, 
without a trace of pure and holy prompting 
in the heart. Still, in the vast majority of 
cases the beauty and usefulness of the outer 
life maintain a direct relation to the progress 
of the life within. That soul which opens 
itself most willingly to God's teachings, 
which draws the closest to him and receives 
of his abundance, will surely give forth 



Christian Life — Spiritual and Practical, 65 

again its gifts in a lovely, faithful daily life 
and conversation. 

Faith and works can never be disunited ; 
they are like the figure eight, which, severed 
through the Centre, makes only two worth- 
less naughts, quite valueless by themselves. 
Faith without works is but a feeling, not a 
faith ; and works without faith are only 
husks without the kernel, leaves without 
fruit. Abraham w^as faithful ; he believed 
God, and it was imputed unto him for right- 
eousness, but it was that true and living faith 
that proves itself by works. If he had said 
quite zealously, *' Lord, I believe, but I 
cannot quite make up my mind to leave my 
own land and kindred ; I believe, but it 
seems a little too hard to follow your call, I 
know not where ; I believe, but I w^ould 
rather keep Isaac," — would this belief have 
been accounted to him for righteousness, 
and would he have won the honored name 
of ''Faithful Abraham?" No; his works 
followed immediately upon his faith ; they 



66 Heavenward Bound. 

sprang with it, rather, from a heart conse- 
crated to God. 

In a number of cases Christ commended 
the faith of different persons who came to 
him for help, but when we examine them, 
we find in every instance, without exception, 
that the faith was accompanied with works ; 
earnest effort, importunate pleading or offer- 
ings of devotion. The centurion, whose 
servant was sick, came out to meet Jesus 
beyond the city as he was approaching, 
and besought him to speak the word only, 
w^ithout coming under his unworthy roof. 
Blind Bartimeus cried after him for mercy, 
and when many bade him hold his peace, 
he called out the more vehemently, "Jesus, 
thou son of David, have mercy on me !" 
The woman who was a sinner followed 
him into Simon's house, a most unwelcome 
guest, stood by him as he sat at meat re- 
clining in Eastern fashion, and bathed his 
feet with her tears, wiped them with her 
long hair and anointed them with costly 



Christian Life — Spiritual and Practical, 67 

ointment. The woman of Canaan followed 
him long, despite every obstacle ; Jesus 
would not notice her, the disciples wanted 
to send her away, and when, at last, the 
Saviour spoke, it was to discourage her. 
Still she followed him, pleaded with him 
and worshiped him, till, at last, she re- 
ceived the boon she wanted and the blessed 
commendation, ''O woman, great is thy 
faith !" 

There are some verses in the second 
chapter of the Epistle of James which com- 
bine, perhaps better than any others in the 
Bible, the full relation between faith and 
works, and condense whole treatises into a 
few sentences: ''What doth it profit, my 
brethren, though a man say he have faith, 
and have not works ? Thou believest that 
there is one God ; thou doest well ; the 
devils also believe and tremble. But wilt 
thou know, O vain man, that faith without 
works is dead? Was not Abraham, our 
father, justified by works when he had of- 



68 Heavenward Bou7td, 

fered Isaac, his son, upon the altar? Seest 
thou how faith wrought with his works, and 
by works was faith made perfect? Ye see, 
then, how that by works a man is justified, 
and not by faith only ; for as the body with- 
out breath is dead, so faith without works is 
dead also." 

Putting beside this the declaration of St. 
Paul to the Ephesians, that by grace we 
are ^' saved through faith, not of works, 
lest any man should boast," we come neces- 
sarily to the conclusion that in God's sight 
neither is complete without the other. 
Through the grace of God sinful men are 
provided with an all-sufficient Saviour; 
through faith they accept him for their own, 
and rest in his salvation ; through works 
they prove the soundness and vitality of 
their faith, and honor him they call Master. 
What link can we spare from this very 
short, but strong, chain that binds us to 
Christ and his service? 

Faith, without works, is indeed dead, the 



Christian Life — Spiritual and Practical, 69 

Apostle James says, and works without faith 
are but a ghastly semblance of life. They 
are like the mechanical action of an autom- 
aton, or the galvanic movements of a dead 
body, simulating the motions of vitality, but 
impelled solely by external force and not by 
the promptings of the burning, breathing, 
informing spirit. 

Mr. Spencer has used a forcible illustra- 
tion in speaking of the relation which faith 
holds to the other Christian graces. ^' The 
root of a tree," he says, " is a ragged and 
jagged thing in shape, no proportion, no 
comeliness in it, and therefore keeps itself 
in the earth, as unwilling to be seen ; yet all 
the beauty that is in the tree, the straight- 
ness of the bulk and body, the spreading 
fairness of the branches, the glory of the 
leaves and flowers, the commodity of the 
fruits, proceed from the root ; by that the 
whole subsisteth. So faith may seem but a 
sorry grace, a virtue of no regard. Devotion 
is acceptable, for it honors God; charity is 



7o Heavenward Bound. 

noble, for it does good to man ; holiness is 
the image of heaven, therefore beauteous ; 
thankfulness is the tune of angels, therefore 
melodious. But what is faith good for? 
Yes, it is good for every good purpose, the 
foundation and root of all graces. All the 
prayers made by devotion, all the good 
works done by charity, all the actual ex- 
pressions of holiness, all the praises sounded 
forth by thankfulness, come from the root 
of faith, that is the life of them all. Faith 
doth animate works, as the body lives by 
the soul. Doubtless, faith hath saved some 
without works, but it was never read that 
works saved any without faith." 

For the sake of simplicity, we have hith- 
erto taken '' faith" to stand for all the inner 
experiences of the Christian life, and 
<' works" to represent its varied external 
manifestations. In pursuing the subject 
further, we must necessarily examine these 
two phases of religious life more in detail, 
and for that purpose must divide them, as 



Christian Life — Spiritual and Practical, 71 

they never should be divided in a true 
Christian experience, and consider them 
quite separately. 

As the outer life depends upon the inner, 
lives by it, grows in proportion to its growth 
and decays with its decay, we will speak 
first of the things which belong to the spirit- 
ual life, its nourishment, ks development, 
and subsequently of its final expression in 
those external acts which belong to the 
Christian's practical life. 




Ipntttnl fife: '$x^tx (BUmfi. 



13 



*' O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in the 
heaven nor in the earth ; which keepest covenant and shewest 
mercy unto thy servants, that walk before thee with all their 
hearts ; then what prayer or zvhat supplication soever shall 
be made of any man or of all thy people Israel — hear thou 
from heaveft, thy dwelling-place, and forgive, and render 
nnto every man according to all his ways, for thou only knowest 
the hearts of the children of men ^ — 2 Chron. vi. 14, 29, 30. 

74 



T 



CHAPTER V. 

Spiritual Life: Prayer Offered. 

HERE are many words and phrases 
belonging to religious things, which 
have become so current among us, such fre- 
quent, every-day utterances, that our accus- 
tomed ears hear them almost mechanically, 
and their sound rarely rouses us to a con- 
sideration of the full meaning conveyed by 
them. 

Of all such, the word prayer is one of the 
most remarkable, both for the frequency 
with which it is used and for the wonderful 
power, beauty and mystery which are com- 
prehended in it, for it has been well said 
that ** prayer moves the Arm that moves the 
world." 

In considering its true nature, we choose 

75 



^6 Heavenward Bou7id. 

from its many aspects and phases three 
dominant ones, which may be made to com- 
prehend all, or nearly all, the others. 
Firsts prayer as an act of homage, adora- 
tion and worship toward the almighty Maker 
of heaven and earth, the Creator, Preserver 
and Ruler of all. Secondly^ prayer as a 
means of making known our wants and 
supplying our necessities, comprising all 
petitions for body and soul, confessions of 
sin and thanksgiving for blessings received. 
Thirdly <i prayer as a medium of communion 
between the trusting, loving soul and the still 
more loving Saviour — a method of inter- 
change, as it were, of deep, heartfelt devo- 
tion on the one side, and deeper peace and 
rest on the other. 

True reverence and homage God has a 
right to demand from ever}^ creature upon 
earth. However proud, however great, 
however careless of their souls' eternal wel- 
fare, they may be, they owe allegiance to 
the great Author of all, as to the King who 



Spii^itual Life: Prayer Offered, 77 

reigns, the Judge who arbitrates, the vast 
Power whose matchless intelligence con- 
trols, pervades, impels and perfects all. 
Natural religion, aside from all that is re- 
vealed, proclaims such wonders, from the 
vast systems of worlds maintained in abso- 
lute order and motion through the whole 
creation, down to the indescribably minute 
and perfect life revealed by the micro- 
scope, that it compels the deepest wonder, 
reverence and praise from every rational 
mind for the great Head and Source of 
all. 

But in coming to God with our petitions, 
we need not so much to remember the 
grander attributes of his omnipotence as the 
more tender qualities of his fatherhood — his 
loving-kindness, his gentleness, his willing- 
ness to pardon, his readiness to use the vast 
resources of his eternal nature to help and 
bless and save his children. 

" His love is as large as his power, 

And neither knows measure nor end." 



yS Heavenward Bound, 

And both are for us, strange as it may 
seem. Human assertions could never make 
us believe it; the fact is so wonderful, so 
vast, our finite minds can scarcely grasp it ; 
but we have God's own word for it, and so 
we must take it simply and fully, with 
grateful hearts, believing, as he says, that 
the feeblest prayer, the faintest, poorest 
cry for help, come up before the throne 
of his Majesty on high, and are heard and 
answered. 

The third aspect of prayer which we have 
mentioned is perhaps the highest and holi- 
est of all. It is not an act of homage, it is 
not an appeal for help. It is more a yearn- 
ing for the presence of God, a happy hun- 
gering and thirsting of the soul after right- 
eousness — happy because it knows it shall 
be filled ; it is an opening of the whole 
heart to its Saviour in deep self-consecration, 
in absolute trust, in blessed consciousness 
of his unchanging love. It is an intense 
but peaceful longing to be like the beloved 



spiritual Life: Prayer Offered, 79 

Redeemer, to be with him, to abide in him, 
to be one with him. Most often it may be 
an inarticulate, wordless prayer, for with the 
heavenly Friend, as with an earthly, silence 
is often as sweet as converse ; but the soul 
gives itself up to God's will, and is borne 
along on eagle's wings ; it stays itself on 
Christ, and is kept in perfect peace. 

A pagan, a worldling, or even a deist, 
may honor God as the Maker of the world, 
compelled by the wonder of his works in 
nature to reverence him as a higher Power. 
But his children approach hfm as a loving 
Father, and confidently ask for those things 
which he delights to bestow. And those 
who have experienced his deeper provi- 
dences, and have received a further teaching 
of the Holy Spirit, have been brought to 
feel their own utter nothingness and the 
grace and fullness of Christ to such a degree 
as words can scarcely tell of. They have 
been shown the wonderful love which en- 
velops them, leads them, succors them, 



8o Heavenward Bound. 

gladdens them ; which never leaves them 
nor forsakes them ; which was set apart for 
them before the creation of the world, and 
is theirs for time and eternity. Then their 
highest joy on earth is to open their willing 
souls to the sunshine of that love and bask 
in it and be glad, as a little child in its 
mother's smiles. 

When shall we pray? David says, 
^'Evening, morning and at noon will I 
pray." Daniel went to his chamber and 
'' kneeled upon his knees three times a day, 
and prayed ^nd gave thanks to God." 
Whatever times we fix upon for our private 
devotions, and though they may vary in 
some cases through force of outer circum- 
stances, the period most naturally accorded 
to such exercises will be morning and even- 
ing ; whatever times we fix upon should be 
regular and stated times, as near the same 
hour every day and as nearly in the same 
place as possible. As regards our physical 
nature, we know that the food we eat daily, 



spiritual Life: Prayer Offered. 8i 

taken at certain regular hours, nourishes 
and sustains the body, while it becomes a 
bane almost more than a benefit, if eaten at 
odd times, with no regard to punctuality ; 
the body not only misses its stated supply, 
but suffers from the irregular demands made 
upon it, and so derives comparatively little 
good from even wholesome food. 

In spiritual matters it is very much the 
same. Irregular, almost haphazard prayer, 
offered one day at one time and another at 
another, can do little for us, compared with 
the good which follows the faithful use of a 
stated hour. We learn to put other things 
aside at that time, and those about us soon 
understand that they must leave us to our- 
selves ; the same hour and the same place 
become associated in our minds with thoughts 
that are not of the world, and so help to 
bring us into a quiet frame. 

But the prayer which is easily deferred 
for one thing or another — the prayer which 
waits for a leisure hour or a chance minute — 

6 



82 Heavenward Bound, 

often waits all day and has lost the dew of 
the morning at last. The manna God gives 
us is both like and unlike that of the Israel- 
ites ; like it, because we cannot accumulate 
it, but must gather it fresh day by day ; un- 
like it and better, because theirs, '' angels' 
food" though it was, lay scattered upon the 
ground and we gather ours directly out of 
God's own hand. 

But shall we limit our prayers to one, 
two or three stated times a day? By so 
doing we shall often cut off our supplies 
when most needed. Ejaculatory prayer is 
as natural and involuntary to the child 
of God as the drawing of the breath. 
Sudden temptations take us, disappoint- 
ment meets us, unkindness pains us, w^ea- 
riness overcomes us, and almost uncon- 
sciously our cry goes up to heaven for the 
escape, the solace, the repose that God 
stands ever ready to give. The more we 
accustom ourselves to the use of ejaculatory 
prayer the more help, strength and happi- 



spiritual Life: Prayer Offered, 83 

ness shall we receive. To compare great 
things with small, it sometimes seems to me 
that our regular prayers are like the long 
letters we send to absent friends — minute, 
full and complete as epistles — while these 
little thoughts that fly to heaven and back 
with such rapidity are like the brief tele- 
graphic messages we send them to ask a 
single question or state a single fact. 

We must not, then, lose the great privi- 
lege which has been bestowed upon us, but 
avail ourselves of it, and in the words of the 
little mission-school card, '' When tempted, 
when troubled, when sick, when afflicted, 
when oppressed, when forsaken, look to 
Jesus." But to me that little card has 
never been quite satisfactory. I should like 
to add to it, '' When happy, when peaceful, 
when prosperous, when blessed, look up in 
joyous thanksgiving to Him who has given 
all." 

How shall we pray? Not with high- 
sounding phrases and many words, which 



84 Heaveizward Bound. 

our Saviour calls ''vain repetitions." '' God 
is in heaven and thou on earth, therefore let 
thy words be few." Our reverence for God 
will naturally exclude careless and undigni- 
fied expressions from our prayers, but let 
us be sure that it is the heart alone that God 
looks at. Beautifully written prayers un- 
doubtedly please the writer and perhaps 
edify those who read them ; and eloquent 
petitions, well delivered, probably satisfy the 
declaimer and suit the ears of the hearer ; 
but the lisp of a trusting child or the heaven- 
ward sigh of an oppressed slave is as truly 
a prayer to God and more sure of an an- 
swer, for there is nothing in it but heartfelt 
need. 

Let us remember and obey the Saviour's 
injunction to enter into our closets and shut 
our doors, for I am persuaded that much of 
the benefit of prayer is lost by trying to 
pray in the presence of others, or under any 
distracting circumstances, or in places where 
we are subject to interruption. Let there 



spiritual Life: Prayer Offered, 85 

be some place, however small, where we 
can literally enter in and shut the door, be- 
seeching God to enable us in shutting that 
to shut out the world also with it. 

Let us recollect to whom we pray ; his 
holiness, his power, his tenderness, his wil- 
lingness to hear, his invitations to us to 
speak. Let us recall our own weakness 
and dependence, the wants of our bodies, 
the greater need of divine things for our 
souls ; and then, with the implicit love and 
faith of little children, let us speak to him 
the very thoughts of our hearts. 

For what shall we pray? Literally and 
definitely, for everything we want. What- 
ever we desire or need for ourselves, for 
our friends in the church or the world or 
the family, things material, things social, 
things spiritual, for the present or the fu- 
ture, for time or for eternity, let us ask for 
them in faith. As there is nothing so high 
or good that we may not ask for it, so there 
is nothing so lowly or small that God will 



86 Heavenward Bou7td. 

despise it. Let us make known to him, our 
loving Father, all our wants. God has in 
no wise Hmited our petitions or his answers ; 
it is we ourselves who limit them by waver- 
ing and want of belief. 

'•* Thou art coming to a King ; 
Large petitions with thee bring, 
For his grace and power are such 
Thou canst never ask too much." 




^^ Receive, I pray thee, the law from his mouth, and lay up 
his words in thine heart. For there shalt thou have thy de- 
light in the Almighty, and shalt lift up thy face unto God ; 
there shalt thou make thy prayer unto him, and he shall hear 
thee^ — ^JOB xxii. 22, 26, 27. 



I 



CHAPTER VI. 

Spiritual Life: Prayer Answered. 

T has already been asserted, regarding 
the things for which we shall pray, that 
we may ask, literally and confidently, for 
just what we want. God's covenant with 
those who pray in faith extends over the 
whole range of possibilities, as regards hu- 
man wants and desires. It promises abun- 
dant food for the support of life. '^ Behold 
the fowls of the air, they sow not, neither 
do they reap, yet your heavenly Father 
feedeth them. Are ye not much better than 
they?" It promises appropriate raiment for 
the body. ''Consider the lilies, how they 
grow. They toil not, they spin not, yet 
Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed 
like one of these. If, then, God so clothe 



90 Heavenward Bound. 

the grass, how much more will he clothe 
you." It promises the healing of diseases,* 
protection from pestilence, | strength to meet 
every demand, $ wisdom for each event of 
life,§ escape from every temptation, |1 com- 
fort for every sorroWjIT peace in the shadow 
of death, ^"^ and a glad welcome at the gates 
of heaven. ft ^^ these are included in 
God's covenant with us, and if at any time 
the promise fails of fulfillment, we may be 
sure that it is because some of the conditions 
which belong to our share of the covenant 
are not performed. 

The first requisite for success in prayer is 
faith. ^'Whatsoever ye ask in prayer, be- 
lieving, ye shall receive." ''But ask in 
faith, nothing wavering," and the answer 
will assuredly come. Sometimes, undoubt- -^ 
edly, it is long deferred, but we must re- 
member that God in his great plans for us 

^ James v. 15. f Ps. xci. 5, 6, % Deut. xxxiii. 25. 
\ James i. 6. || I Cor. x. 13. \ 2 Cor. i. 4; Isa. Ixvi. 13, 
^^ Ps. xxiii. 4. f I Matt. xxv. 34. 



spiritual Life: Prayer Answered. 91 

and ours is not bounded by the feeble scope 
of a human mind. He sees beyond and 
above our farthest power of vision. He 
leads us in that way which will bring us 
most surely to a happy end and will produce 
in us the highest development of our moral 
nature. In material things we can often 
understand that God may withhold certain 
gifts from us lest they should prevent a 
spiritual blessing, which is just so much 
more important to us as the soul is greater 
than the body. Thus, we often pray for 
humility of mind, for forgetfulness of self, 
for more entire consecration to God, and in 
the same petition ask for certain earthly 
blessings which, if granted, might make us 
proud, selfish and worldly.'^ ; 

If God, then, loving his children and de- 
siring their highest good, grants their better 
prayer, and by so doing is forced to deny 
their poorer one, shall we call him unfaith- 
ful? No; rather let us bless him for with- 
holding evil from us and rest upon him with 



92 Heavenward Bound, 

the heartfelt confidence that he not only 
hears, but also grants every faithful pra3^er 
that does not interfere with our true heaven- 
ward progress. 

In spiritual things we are less able to un- 
derstand God's long delays. Perhaps we 
are praying, year after year, for the con- 
version of a dear friend, and yet the answer 
is withheld till our hearts sink within us 
with anxiety and fear. But such prayers, 
we may implicitly believe, are never lost. 
God's time is not always our time ; some- 
times w^hen we are ready '' Jesus' hour is 
not yet come ;" and while we are wondering 
at the long delay his plans are ripening 
hour by hour. Perhaps he is moulding the 
beloved soul we pray for into a more excel- 
lent frame for its true conversion to him at 
last, and is developing in us those graces of 
faith, perseverance and sole dependence 
on him which he delights to see in his 
children. 

'^ The effectual, fervent prayer of a right- 



spiritual Life: Prayer Answered. 93 

eous man availeth much," but how much, 
eternity only can unfold, and it is not essen- 
tial for us to know. God's command is, 
that we shall pray in earnest, child-like 
faith ; his promise is, that he will hear and 
answer. 

But let us watch with ceaseless vigilance 
against careless, heartless or formal praying. 
It is only a mockery to the most high God, 
and an idle repetition of words as concerns 
ourselves. Again and again we must say, 
as did the early disciples, '' Lord, teach us 
to pray," and with the words of our souls, 
not the words of our lips, we must speak, 
for only that which comes out of our hearts 
can find its way into the great heart of the 
loving Father and turn it toward us. 

Dr. Thomas Fuller, one of the wittiest 
and quaintest of old divines, has left a little 
meditation upon careless prayer, and the way 
in which such a habit increases upon us 
when once indulged, which is so widely ap- 
plicable in the matter of its teaching and so 



94 Heavemvard Bound, 

clever in the style of its setting-forth that I 
quote it without alteration. 

*''Pope Boniface the ninth, at the end of 
each hundred years, appointed a jubilee at 
Rome wherein people, bringing themselves 
and money thither, had pardon for their 
sins. 

''But centenary years returned but sel- 
dom ; popes were old before and covetous 
when they came to their place. Few had 
the happiness to fill their coffers with jubilee 
coin. Hereupon Clement the Sixth reduced 
it to every three and thirtieth, Paul the 
Second and Sixtus the Fourth to every 
twenty-fifth year. 

''Yea, an agitation is reported in the 
conclave to bring down jubilees to fifteen, 
tw^elve or ten years, had not some cardinals 
(whose policy was above their covetousness) 
opposed it. 

"I serve my prayers as they their jubi- 
lees. Perchance they may extend to a 

■^ Fuller's " Good Thoughts in Bad Times." 



Spirittcal Life: Prayer Answered, 95 

quarter of an hour, when poured out at 
large. But some days I grudge this time 
as too much, and omit the preface of my 
prayer with some passages conceived less 
material, and run two or three petitions into 
one, so concentrating them to half a quarter 
of an hour. 

'' Not long after, this seems also too long. 
I decontract and abridge the abridgment 
of my prayers ; yea (be it confessed to my 
shame and sorrow, that hereafter I may 
amend it) , too often I shrink my prayers to 
a minute — to a moment — to a Lord have 
mercy upon me !" 

There are many of us, I am afraid, who 
must plead guilty to an occasional haste and 
carelessness, almost if not quite as great as 
this ; but surely there are none of us so ir- 
rational or presuming as to suppose that 
such praying deserves or receives an an- 
swer. The promise, as we have already 
said, is made to the faithful, fervent out- 



96 Heavenward Bound. 

pouring of the heart, and to all such peti- 
tions the response is sure and unfailing. 

In fact, the actual answer to prayer is 
often so immediate and so minute that it is 
almost startling to the petitioner. Such in- 
stances are so frequent that it would take 
volumes upon volumes to contain them. In 
Muller's '^Life of Faith" we have the his- 
tory of a whole institution supported and 
carried on, day by day, through the earnest 
prayers of faithful men and God's immediate 
answers to them ; and the experience of 
every Christian supplies more or less evi- 
dence of his wonderful replies to special 
petitions. 

De Liefde's beautiful story of little Dirk, 
the widow's son, who prayed that God 
would send the ravens to them with bread, 
as he had once sent it to Elijah, and of the 
answer he received, is not more beautiful 
nor striking than thousands of similar events 
taking place about us every day. The nar- 
rative has often been repeated, and yet can 



Spiritzcal Life: Prayer Answered, 97 

never be recalled too often, of the poor old 
colored woman, sick and crippled, who 
could do little but suffer and pray. She se- 
lected one after another among her acquaint- 
ances, rich or poor, young or old, white or 
black, and prayed for them day by day, till 
God changed their hearts ; finally twenty 
persons, the subjects of her fervent petitions 
for years, had been thus brought into the 
kingdom of God. 

The evidences that come within our own 
experience, however, or that of our friends, 
seem more conclusive than the accounts of 
that which has happened to others — more 
satisfactory, nearer home, closer to our own 
hearts ; and when we know a thing to be 
true, its teachings are far more forcible than 
w^hen we only suppose it to be so. 

A lady of great piety and almost saintly 
life lost a precious and only son during the 
war. He entered the army very young, 
and, although he was religious in principle, 
dutiful, faithful and lovely in character, he 



98 Heavenwai'd Bound, 

was not professedly a Christian. The latest 
letters received from him, before his death, 
however, breathed so truly the spirit of a 
child of God that she had full reason to be- 
lieve that her Saviour was also the Saviour 
of her son. Under circumstances that made 
his death doubly distressing she was upheld 
most wonderfully ; her mind was stayed on 
God, and he kept her in perfect peace. 

After a while her health failed ; her hus- 
band was away from home, and in her lone- 
liness and sickness a terrible anxiety took 
possession of her with regard to the safety 
of her son's soul. For several days it beset 
her with agonizing force, till, at last, one 
' dreary night it seemed almost to overwhelm 
her. She knelt and prayed with intense 
supplication that God would send peace to 
her heart in some way, in any way, and 
give her rest in thinking of her darling, so 
that she might lay aside this sickening ter- 
ror. Then she lay down to sleep, but it 
seemed as if she had scarcely closed her 



spiritual Life: Prayer Answered, 99 

eyes, when, upon suddenly opening them 
again, she saw her son standing by her bed- 
side. He was dressed in his bright uniform, 
as when she saw him last, and was looking 
down at her with his old pleasant smile and 
a face beaming with love, and yet full of 
peace. 

'* Oh, Charley !" she exclaimed, '* is this 
you?" 

''Yes, dear mother," he answered very 
gently ; ''I have been permitted to come to 
you for your comfort, to show you how well 
all things are with me." 

'' And won't you stay a little while?" she 
said ; '* I have so much to say to you." 

''No, dear mother," he replied, even 
more tenderly than before; "I am under 
orders and may not delay. I have fulfilled 
my charge and I must go." 

In an instant she awoke, so filled with 
joy and gratitude that she arose and kneeled 
again in thankful prayer. 

" What if it was but a moment's dream?" 



lOO Heavenward Bound. 

she said afterward ; '' God knows it w^as just 
what I needed, for my heart seemed break- 
ing. From that day to this I have never 
had a doubt of my child's safety, nor should 
have had then, probably, had I not been 
sick and desolate, and unable to use my 
faith or reason. For that very cause my 
heavenly Father sent me a ' vision of peace' 
to soothe my sick heart ; he gave me an im- 
mediate and satisfying answer to an agonized 
and almost despairing prayer." 

But it is not solely in the answers to great 
and sorrow-laden prayers that God's faith- 
fulness in responding fills the heart with 
surprise and gratitude. His goodness in 
hearing our less-important petitions is almost 
more striking ; and in the incident that fol- 
lows, though we may smile at the facts set 
forth, we cannot but thank our heavenly 
Father for taking such pains to teach a 
humble child : 

A few years ago a friend had in her Sun- 
day-school class a bright, affectionate boy 



spiritual Life: Prayer Answered, loi 

whose early life had been entirely without 
religious influence. All such subjects were 
new to him ; they seemed to open another 
world to his eyes, and his interest in them 
was very deep. He often came to see her 
on a week-day that they might be able to 
talk more freely and unreservedly than in 
the class. One afternoon they had been 
talking of prayer and God's sure answers to 
it, and she had been trying to inspire him 
with the same firm belief which she felt 
herself. But he was rather puzzled with it ; 
it seemed to him too much to believe that the 
great God in heaven should trouble himself 
to hear and answer our little, insignificant 
prayers. Our great petitions, he thought, 
might claim more notice, but the little ones 
he '^ wouldn't bother about." 

^' But he has promised," she urged ; ^^ try 
it for yourself and see." 

'^ I will," he answered with a bright look 
in his eyes ; '' I will try him and see." 

''You would not, of course, mock God 



I02 Heavenward Bozmd, 

with foolish prayers," she said ; ''that would 
not be right." 

" But, teacher," he rejoined, " you say he 
likes to give us all the little things we 
want." 

''I fully believe he does," she replied, 
''and that he gives them always unless it is 
against our truest good to do so." 

"I'll try him," he said; but there was 
something about his look that puzzled and 
troubled her, and after he was gone she 
questioned with herself whether she had 
dojie wisely. But while earthly wisdom 
often fails God's wisdom never does. 

A few days after came her boy again with 
a face as bright as the sun. He held some- 
thing in his hands behind his back, and 
when she asked him what it was he replied, 
softly, " It is an answer to prayer." There 
never was a face that looked at the same 
time so perfectly radiant, so happy and yet 
so solemn. She almost trembled for a mo- 
ment lest her teaching had been misunder- 



spiritual Life: Prayer Ajiswered, 103 

stood or misapplied; then she said, ''Tell 
me about it." 

"Yes, it's an answer to prayer," he re- 
peated, and taking his hands from behind 
him he laid in her lap a beautiful dead par- 
tridge, flecked and speckled with white and 
ashen tints on the soft brown with such 
heavenly art as only one hand has skill to 
use. 

"You see, teacher, you looked so white 
and sick the other day when I was here, it 
seemed to me a nice broiled quail or par- 
tridge would taste nice to you and do you a 
lot of good, too ; besides that, I wanted the 
fun of catching one. So I went home and 
prayed to God to send one into my snare. 
I could hardly expect it yet, you know, it's 
so early ; the buckwheat's only just gone 
out of the field, and there's lots of wild ber- 
ries and seeds left yet; but, thinks I, that 
don't make much difference if he has a 
mind to send it. So I prayed for it, and I 
prayed hard, too, for I thought if God 



I04 IIeave7zward Sound. 

should take the trouble to do this little thing 
I'd never mistrust him again. Well, in the 
morning when I went to the snare there had 
been one in and a fox or something had 
eaten it out. Its little soft feathers were 
scattered all about, and the snare and all 
were bitten right out. I felt pretty queer 
then, and I had to sit down on a stone under 
the cedar tree and think about it. It seemed 
like a big lesson. I was almost scared to 
think God had sent it there, and yet I felt 
awfully to have it gone. It made me think 
of what you said the other day of people 
who asked for things that did them no good 
and got -them ; you said the verse over twice 
about them, how God gave them the desire 
of their heart, and sent leanness into their 
soul. That was me, exactly. God had 
sent me that thing I wanted so much to 
show me he could do it, but now it was 
gone I felt worse than if it hadn't been there. 
So I kneeled down and told him I was sorry 
I had made such a foolish prayer, but I 



spiritual Life: Prayer Answered, 105 

would stick to what I had said, anyhow, and 
never doubt him again ; for though I was 
silly, I told him he'd taught me a big lesson ; 
' for,' said I, ' Lord, I do believe there was 
a partridge, or else a quail, in that snare; 
and, what's more, I do believe you could 
send another into it and keep the foxes from 
eating it up, too, if you had a mind to.' 
But I didn't ask him to. I wouldn't have 
asked him again for anything ! And when 
I got there, this morning, there was this 
plump fellow, just dead, warm yet ! This 
time I kneeled down and thanked him for 
sending such a fat bird for you, all out of 
his own goodness, when I didn't deserve it 
at all ; and I'll never, never doubt him 
again !" 

And, apparently, he never did. This had 
been a test of his own choosing, and the 
answer was a divine guarantee of faithfulness 
to his boyish mind. 

And how can we, how dare we, mistrust 
God? We know he has the power to do 



io6 



Heavenward Bound. 



what he will, and he tells us he has the will 
to use that power for us. Let us take him 
at his word, and rest in him. ''I will set 
him on high, because he hath known my 
name. He shall call upon me, and I will 
answer him ; I will be with him in trouble, 
I will deliver him and honor him. With 
long life will I satisfy him, and show him 
my salvation." 



Spitttal fife: §il}k $mt> 



107 



** open thou 7nine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things 
out of thy lawy — Ps. cxix. 1 8. 

1Q4 



T 



CHAPTER VII. 

Spiritual Life: Bible Study. 

HERE is a story in the Arabian Nights 
of a mysterious and powerful geni who 
by some magical means was imprisoned in 
a tiny vase ; as soon as the cover was lifted 
he expanded with indescribable rapidity 
until he became an immense mass of cloud 
which no possible efforts could compress 
into the little vase again. 

Every one who has ever been compelled 
by circumstances to condense a great sub- 
ject into a small space knows just how dif- 
ficult a task it must have been to imprison 
the geni in that little vase. We take 
a little word, a phrase, a text, for our sub- 
ject, quite unconscious of all that lies within 
it; but suddenly, when we begin to break 
the seals and open its depths,. it expands into 

109 



no Heavenward Bound. 

a great theme which wise men have written 
volumes about and not exhausted. Such 
topics as we have been considering, and es- 
pecially that which forms the subject of the 
present chapter, are such fruitful themes, 
and such important ones, that it is almost 
disheartening to try to limit them to such a 
tiny space only as can be allowed in a little 
volume like this. We must either necessa- 
rily leave out a great deal that might well be 
said or we must condense matters into a 
mere series of statistical utterances. 

The Apostle Paul, it seems to me, was 
under just such a pressure of much to say 
and short time to say it in when he wrote 
the twelfth chapter of Romans. There, a 
whole Epistle, or rather, series of them, is 
condensed into a few verses : '^ He that 
giveth, let him do it with simplicity ; he that 
ruleth, with diligence; he that showeth 
mercy, with cheerfulness ; let love be with- 
out dissimulation. Abhor that which is 
evil; cleave to that which is good; not 



spiritual Life: Bible Study, iii 

slothful in business ; fervent in spirit ; serv- 
ing the Lord ;" and so on through many- 
verses. 

But the Apostle Paul's pov^er of condens- 
ation has not extended itself to every one, 
neither is it just the style best adapted for 
keeping the mind in thoughtful considera- 
tion of a single subject ; we must therefore 
decide to select the principal points which 
occur to us in connection with it, while we 
leave many others to be thought out by the 
reader. 

It is our duty and our pleasure to read the 
Bible, because it contains the revealed will 
of God ; because we believe it to have been 
written by chosen men, under his direct 
guidance, to be the only revelation so made 
from God to man, and to contain all know- 
ledge necessary to inform us of the plan of 
salvation, the requirements of God and the 
obligations of man. 

The Scriptures should be read with faith- 
ful prayer, for only by the help of God's 



112 Heavenwa7'd Bound. 

Spirit can we hope rightly to understand his 
word. The heart of man is full of blind- 
ness and prejudice, and, left to itself, may 
distort the purest teachings. The Apostle 
Peter, even, speaks of the epistles of his 
beloved brother Paul as containing things 
which are hard to be understood and which 
the unlearned and the unstable wrest, as 
they do also the other Scriptures, to their 
own destruction. 

In fact, when we consider the subject 
closely, we find there is hardly a schism, a 
heresy or a religious extravagance of any 
kind, of the many which have grown up 
during all the centuries of the Christian era, 
which has not had its rise in some Scripture 
precept or doctrine separated from its whole 
meaning and thereby losing its proper bal- 
ance, and thus carried to an unreasonable 
extreme. 

The Bible is a book of vast resources ; its 
contents embrace almost every known form 
of writing ; its histories, biographies, narra- 



Spii'itual Life: Bible Study, 113 

tives, poems, prophecies, proverbs; its 
travels, its wars, its allegories, its precepts 
and its books of laws, aside from its more 
absolute spiritual teaching, render it a vast 
storehouse of information. Even the infidel 
cannot afford to lose the treasures of know- 
ledge it contains, and accepts as truth the 
more material part, which he wants to make 
use of, while he scoffs at that which con- 
demns his rebellious and unbelieving life. 

Satan himself used perverted w^ords of 
Scripture for argument in the temptation of 
our Saviour, and was foiled by the undis- 
torted truths of the Bible from Christ's own 
lips. But, aside from the intentional per- 
version of Scripture, our own limited ca- 
pacity and proneness to error render it 
necessary that we should have the aid of 
God's Spirit in order first to understand and 
then practice it rightly. This he gives us 
gladly and freely. ^^ If ye, being evil, 
know how to give good gifts to your chil- 
dren, how much more shall your heavenly 



114 Heavenward Bound, 

Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask 
him?'' 

There is a great deal of help which we 
may get from easy and open sources for in- 
telligently reading the Bible, which yet is 
frequently quite overlooked. No one that 
has not tried it can ever imagine the differ- 
ence between habitually reading a Bible 
with references and marginal readings and 
one that has neither. The Bible admirably 
explains itself; it makes the most striking 
commentary on itself; and to read it daily 
in this way gives a knowledge of its con- 
tents tenfold greater and more thorough than 
can be acquired by the simple, casual read- 
ing of a chapter. It certainly takes much 
more time, but it is surely better to read a 
few verses studiously and faithfully than a 
much larger portion without study. We 
learn to associate together verses and facts 
that belong together ; to explain this by that 
and to balance one by another. So import- 
ant does this manner of reading appear to 



spiritual Life: Bible Study. 115 

us that it seems almost a waste of time and 
money to print and publish so many small 
Bibles without either references or marginal 
readings where a little more expended of 
both would give to the reader not only the 
word of God, but such admirable helps for 
comprehending it fully. 

Valuable helps to Bible study are pub- 
lished so cheaply now by different religious 
societies that almost every one, even with 
limited means, is able to purchase the most 
essential of them. A good Bible atlas, 
Bible dictionary and concordance give a 
wonderful amount of help in properly un- 
derstanding what we read : and, after these, 
come various well-known writers and com- 
mentators, whose works on different parts 
of the Scriptures have been of incalculable 
value to the world. 

The faithful, daily reading of the Scrip- 
tures is essential for the spiritual progress 
of every Christian, but especially is it valu- 
able in early life. If young people could 



ii6 Heavenward Bound, 

only once understand how much less time for 
study they will have as they grow older, and 
how many more distractions, cares and hin- 
drances ; and how the weary mind, burdened 
wdth many thoughts, can but half take in 
the precious truths which the fresh young 
brain absorbs so eagerly, they would surely 
spare no effort to make themselves tho- 
roughly conversant with the word of God 
in the days of their youth. 

There is something wonderful in the effect 
which much Bible study has upon the cha- 
racter ; it gives a strength, depth and clear- 
ness of judgment that no other study or pur- 
suit ever can give. It imparts a steadfast- 
ness to weak minds and a balance to friv- 
olous ones ; it softens hard natures and 
purifies coarse ones, so that the intellectual 
part of man, as well as the spiritual, is 
vastly elevated and improved by it. And 
for our moral nature it is absolutely essen- 
tial. We need its constant teachings to re- 
call to us the words of our Saviour, to hold 



spiritual Life: Bible Study. 117 

up before us repeatedly the loveliness of his 
life, to reimpress upon us the precepts, the 
injunctions, the instructions for our daily 
thinking, speaking and acting. We need 
it to be ever before our eyes as a standard 
of righteousness in an evil world, as a 
measure and a balance by which to weigh 
all things, as a criterion by which to test 
them. 

In the '' Paradise Lost" we are told that 
the angel Ithuriel found Satan in the form 
of a toad squatting close by Eve's ear that 
he might whisper evil into it as she slept, 
and that with one touch of his spear he re- 
stored him to his own proper shape again ; 

For no falsehood can endure 
Touch of celestial temper, but returns 
Of force to its own likeness. 

And in the Scriptures we have a surer 
agent for unveiling evil than even the 
heavenly spear of the angel ; a more certain 
touchstone, which, applied to all that we can 



ii8 Heavenward Bound. 

bring to it, strips off disguise, falsehood and 
pretence and displays the naked truth. 

Let us bring to this ordeal, then, all that 
concerns us in this life — the requirements 
of our business, the customs of society, the 
amusements of the day ; all questions of 
morals or of doctrines, new dogmas, strange 
teachings, the speeches of orators, the 
preaching of the pulpit, the assertions of 
books. Let us set them side by side with 
the revelation which God has given to man 
as the guide of his wa}^, and, with that 
heavenly light shining upon them, conscien- 
tiously inquire into their true bearings and 
influence. 

We must not, however, be misunderstood 
as implying that the Bible should be used 
as a test of the truth of works of science, 
art or history ; it was given to teach us the 
plan of salvation, and not as a handbook of 
science. Its object is to present, for man's 
inspection and obedience, a standard of holy 
living, a code of laws of heavenly wisdom. 



spiritual Life: Bible Study. 119 

and in all questions relating to right and 
wrong, to man's duty to God and his neigh- 
bor, to God's love and care toward man, to 
every shade of moral discussion, the Bible 
will be found an infallible guide, unerring, 
explicit and easily understood. ''For if 
our gospel be hid, it is hid to them which are 
lost." 

It would certainly be very remarkable to 
expect to find anything in the Scriptures 
discussed in a strictly scientific or technical 
way ; its casual indefinite remarks upon all 
such topics should be looked upon as not in- 
tended to be either contradictory to or con- 
firmatory of scientific truths, but simply as 
incidental to the grand object of its exist- 
ence. Of one thing, however, we maybe very 
sure — God's word will never and can never 
really contradict his works. They both 
spring from the same source, the eternal 
Fountain of might, knowledge and truth. 
We are often blind to the real meaning of 
God's, words ; we are yet deplorably ignorant 



120 Heavenward Bound, 

of the least of his works ; but when we come 
fully to understand both, w^e shall find a per- 
fect harmony and fitness between them. 

To repeat, then, concisely, what we have 
already dwelt upon, let our reading of the 
Scriptures be a daily act, let it be reverent, 
let it be prayerful, let it be studious, let it be 
wise, and let us learn to apply its teachings 
to every event of life, whether great or 
small. .The more we study it the more w^e 
shall love it ; the better we know it the plainer 
we shall see how little we still know ; the 
deeper we search into its mines of treasure 
the vaster will its farther avenues and deeper 
depths appear to us. It is an inexhaustible 
source of study ; and the oldest, wisest and 
most diligent of Bible students will tell you 
that he has but begun to know all its won- 
ders. As John Jewell, bishop of Salisbury, 
wrote of the fullness of Holy Writ more 
than three hundred years ago, so those who 
know it best have found it ever since : ^' The 
word of God is the water of life — the more 



spiritual Life: Bible Study, i3i 

ye lave it forth the fresher it runneth ; it is 
the fire of God's glory — the more ye blow it 
the clearer it burneth ; it is the corn of the 
Lord's field — the better you grind it the more 
it yieldeth ; it is the bread of heaven — the 
more it is broken and given forth the more 
it remaineth ; it is the sword of the Spirit — 
the more it is scoured the brighter it shineth. 
The voice of God cannot be unpleasant to 
their ears who are the children of God — the 
oftener they hear it the more they receive ; 
they can never have overmuch who never 
have enough." 




123 



" Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the 
manner of so77ie is,^'' — Heb. x. 25. 

** In all places where I record my name I will coi?ie unto 
thee, and I will bless thee^ — Ex. xx. 24. 

124 




CHAPTER VIII. 

Spiritual Life: Public Worship. 

T T is hardly a possible thing for the mind 
■^ of man, at the present time, to make 
any approximate estimate of the benefit 
which has accrued to the world through the 
assembling together of Christians for the 
public worship of God. Could we picture 
ourselves in a state of society exempt from 
all influences of the public ordinances of the 
Church, either present or past, we should 
look upon a scene so strange as to be beyond 
recognition. 

If devotion to God had been enjoined 
upon man as a private, secret exercise, to be 
entered upon exclusively within the closet or 
behind closed doors, our w^hole social exist- 
ence would be changed. The grandest 

125 



126 Heavenwa7'd Bound, 

achievements of olden times in statuary and 
painting would be blotted out of being ; they 
were not executed for the contemplation of 
solitary worshipers, but for the vast masses 
who met in great churches and praised God 
in choral anthems. The rarest music that 
we have, the hymns of the ages, whose 
strains have lost neither sweetness nor 
power by long and frequent use, would 
never have been composed. Our noblest 
works of architecture, cathedrals, minsters 
and churches, would have no existence. 
The hushed meetings of the early martyrs 
at dead of night with all their impending 
consequences for this world and the next, 
the bands of hunted Huguenots praying 
among the mountains, the covenanters sing- 
ing their hymns among the rocks and 
heather of Scotland, half the pathos and 
pith of history, half its wars and its perils, 
half its deeds of prowess and its names of 
renown, would be lost to us for ever. 

A silent, secret allegiance to God, ac- 



spiritual Life: Public Worship, 127 

knowledged only in the heart of the family 
or quietly practiced in private life, would 
never have aroused the opposition, fury and 
bloodshed which have so often followed the 
open assembling of Christians and the public 
avowal of religious belief. If Nero and 
Diocletian, if Charles the Ninth and Philip 
the Second, if cruel Queen Mary of Eng- 
land and reckless King Charles, could have 
put an absolute stop to the gatherings of 
Christians their persecutions would probably 
have been suspended. 

But God, who knows so well the heart of 
man, never showed his love and care for his 
children and his Church on earth more in- 
disputably than when he enjoined and en- 
couraged their public assembling together. 
As private devotion, meditation and study 
are essential to the growth of the individual 
Christian, so is public worship necessary to 
the growth of the Church. To look for a 
great increase of Christianity and spread of 
the gospel with each man worshiping God 



128 IIeave7zwa7^d BoM7td. 

in his own house only, would be like ex- 
pecting to conquer a country by sending 
isolated soldiers in upon it, and directing 
each to win his own rood of soil. There 
must be unity of purpose, there must be the 
consolidation of forces and there must be 
the sympathy, strength and enthusiasm 
which human beings communicate to each 
other when gathered into bands for a solemn 
purpose. 

Without public worship the Sabbath would 
be an entirely different day from what it is 
at present; it might, indeed, remain a day 
of rest, but its chief occupation w^ould be 
gone. No pleasant chimes would call wil- 
ling hearts to the place of worship or ring 
reproachful tones into the ears of reckless 
men ; no crowds of earnest Christians would 
tread the quiet streets, making an endless 
procession of witnesses to the world that 
God has many worshipers on earth and 
winning it to adore him with them by the 
force of silent example. The voice of the 



spiritual Life: Public Worship. 129 

preacher, which now calls from wxek to 
week to the impenitent, w^ould be silent, and 
one great means of the conversion of the 
world would be obliterated- The happy re- 
lationship between pastor and people, the 
gentle charities between rich and poor in the 
same congregation, the brotherhood of fel- 
low-worshipers, arising from the affection 
and sympathy developed by the mere fact 
of praying side by side under one roof for 
years together, would be entirely done away 
with. 

The great enterprises which have long 
been evangelizing the world, lighting up its 
dark places of cruelty, preaching the gospel 
to the ignorant at home and abroad, and in 
many ways lifting up the human race to- 
ward a purer and more spiritual life, could 
never have been organized by men single- 
handed. Christians help each other, inspire 
each other, encourage, cheer and urge each 
other on to good deeds and great efforts, and 
their influence is nowhere brought to bear so 



130 Heavenward Bound, 

powerfully on each other as in social and 
public gatherings for worship. 

But it is not Christians alone who should 
maintain the service of the Church ; every 
creature on earth owes praise and homage 
to the Almighty, and should unite with the 
people of God in giving it. It is impossible, 
however, to ignore the fact, that multitudes 
who ought to go habitually to church, stay 
away, and that some of their reasons for so 
doing have a specious look of truth about 
them. 

Church-going, they say, does not save 
souls; many a man goes through mere 
hypocrisy, and if God had meant us to keep 
the Sabbath in that wa}^ he would have 
given more definite commands about it. 
Sometimes they even go so far as to say that 
such ceremonies belonged to the Mosaic 
law, and that law is done away with. 

We may freely admit to them that church- 
going does not of necessity save souls, al- 
though we claim that a great many souls 



spiritual Life: Public Worship, 131 

are saved by just that agency. And they 
will have to admit to us that if hypocrites 
and worldly people do go, they cannot hurt 
the church and may receive some benefit ; 
while the fact of their going testifies to their 
conviction that there is at least an eminent 
respectability, solidity and excellence about 
ordinary church-goers, the aroma of which 
they would fain share with them. And as 
for the divine injunctions to keep the Sab- 
bath holy and frequent the house of God for 
worship, they are as plain, repeated and in- 
controvertible as any other command what- 
ever ; and those who speak of Mosaic law 
must study their Bibles better and go far 
back of Moses, even to the first man Adam 
and his home in Paradise, to find the ap- 
pointment of the Sabbath as a day of rest 
unto God. 

The finger of the Almighty himself pre- 
pared the tables of stone and wrote upon 
them the ten commandments which Moses 
received on Mount Sinai; and the very 



132 Heavenward Bound. 

wording of the fourth commandment, '^ Re- 
member the Sabbath day to keep it holy," 
points back to a thing long ago established 
and known among men. 

One of the most oft-repeated injunctions 
in the Old Testament is that concerning the 
keeping of the Sabbath holy, and in imme- 
diate connection with that is the frequenting 
of the sanctuary. <' Keep my Sabbaths and 
reverence my sanctuaries ; keep thy foot 
when thou goest to the house of God ; 
praise God in the sanctuary ; in the temple 
doth every one speak of his glory." 

God rested on the e^^venth day and sanc- 
tified it ; how soon men began to keep it 
holy by special offerings and worship we 
cannot tell. Probably very soon after the 
fall of man, for we find both Abel and Cain 
offering homage to God, one in accordance 
with and one against the appointed way, as 
if already such sacrifice and worship were 
an accustomed thing ; and shortly after, in 
the days of Enos, Adam's grandson, we are 



spiritual Life: Public Worship, 133 

told that men began to call themselves the 
children of God. Noah assembled his 
family for openly worshiping God when the 
flood was over, and Melchisedec, king of 
Salem, was also a ^' priest of the most high 
God." If a priest, we reason inferentially 
that there must have been devotions to lead, 
sacrifices to offer and an assembly to minis- 
ter unto ; and, as in numerous instances we 
find allusions to the seventh day as a day 
distinguished from others, we have reason 
to suppose that it was early set apart as a 
time for especial worship. Among the 
Israelites there were particular sacrifices and 
observances for that day, so that the Sab- 
bath, as a period of rest, has been associated 
with the public worship of God and a '' holy 
convocation" of the people from the earliest 
times. 

God himself seems always to have made 
especial provision for the gathering together 
of congregations for united worship. As 
soon as the Israelites encamped in the wil- 



134 Heavenward Bound. 

derness, he ordered the fashioning and set- 
ting up of the tabernacle ; when Canaan 
was possessed and the kingdom of Israel 
well established, he chose Mount Moriah in 
Jerusalem as the place where his house 
should be built, and instructed David in all 
that was necessary with regard to it. After 
the Jewish captivity and the destruction of 
Solomon's temple, he softened the heart of 
King Cyrus, who permitted the people under 
Ezra and Nehemiah to return and rebuild 
the temple. Among the Jews in later times, 
whenever in a small community there were 
even ten full-grown men, they were enjoined 
to build a place of worship. 

Our Saviour upheld the keeping of the 
Sabbath, declaring that it was made for 
man ; he bade the people search the Scrip- 
tures, which they could only do in those 
days of ignorance by frequenting the syna- 
gogues on the Sabbath day, where the 
Scriptures were read and expounded. He 
upheld public worship by going himself into 



Spi7'itual Life: Public Worship. 135 

the temple or the synagogues on the Sab- 
bath and teaching the people. ^'As his cus- 
tom was^'' St. Luke says, '^he went into the 
synagogue on the Sabbath day and stood 
up for to read." St. Paul is several times 
spoken of as going into the synagogues on 
the Sabbath day to preach to the people ; so 
that we have commands, injunctions, exam- 
ples, besides all that we gather inferentially, 
going to prove that public worship is pleas- 
ing to God and forms a large part of the 
keeping of the Sabbath according to his 
will. 

We have already referred in the early 
part of this chapter to the excellent effect 
of habitual public worship upon the individ- 
ual Christian in developing many phases of 
character that might otherwise lie dormant, 
and to its silent but powerful influence upon 
the world, and there are one or two thoughts 
in connection wath this that seem worthy of 
a place in its close. Older Christians know, 
but younger ones find it hard to believe, that 



136 Heavemva7'd Bound. 

it makes comparatively little difference in 
our spiritual growth whether the preaching 
tinder which we sit is eloquent or homely ; 
"whether the preacher to whom we listen is 
very congenial to our tastes and character 
or the reverse. Probably among persons 
of more than average refinement and cul- 
ture, in many cases, the preaching which falls 
to their lot is not especially to their liking. 
How can it be otherwise? While they may 
respect and honor every good man, and es- 
pecially every faithful minister of the gospel, 
there may be an entire want of congeniality 
in some respects between them. They may 
approve heartily of all he says, and yet his 
manner of saying it may jar a little upon 
some sensitive point. So they seek for some 
preacher a little more eloquent or a little 
more congenial in some neighboring church, 
and the result is that there has come to be 
in these days a great amount of wandering 
away from old influences, a severing of old 
ties, in the search for something more orig- 



spiritual Life: Ptthlic Worship, 137 

inal or more interesting than could be found 
at home. 

Such a habit as this is very unprofitable 
spiritually, however popular. We have 
fallen into a way of looking entirely too 
much to the preacher as the central point in 
public worship and too little to the people. 
The main object of assembling ourselves in 
congregations is not to hear the eloquence 
of man or be pleased and startled with his 
originality. If Providence has so happily 
ordered our lot that in the way of simple 
duty and custom we may listen to the words 
of one of the mighty men of the Church, we 
have reason to be greatly thankful. If not, 
let us remember that the chief obligations 
and benefits of public worship remain 
unchanged. 

We meet together to express openly our 
homage to God, to unite with fellow Chris- 
tians in hymns of praise to his name, to co- 
operate with them in plans of active benev- 
olence, to join them in thanksgiving for his 



138 Heavenward Bound. 

mercies, in pleadings for pardon, in suppli- 
cation for his continued love and care, and 
to think upon some fact connected with 
eternal things presented to us by him who 
ministers to us. However the subject may 
be put before us, whether richly or poorly, 
God's word remains the same, and we must 
take it into our hearts and ponder it. 

Thoroughly to enjoy and profit by public 
worship it is not needful that the preaching 
be brilliant, the prayers eloquent or the 
music scientific. Little is wanted in those 
external things, but much in ourselves. A 
willing mind, a peaceful frame, a childlike 
heart, full of love toward God and man, 
will render all God's service a blessing and 
a delight, and every Sabbath as peaceful as 
the eternal one above. 

Wherever, then, it has pleased God to 
appoint our lot let us remain until his voice 
calls us to a different sphere. Let us de- 
voutly join in the public worship of God's 
house, in the companionship of kindred and 



spiritual Life: Public Worship, 139 

friends ; let us sustain the influence of our 
pastor by every means in our power, re- 
sponding to every call, ready for every good 
w^ork, and v^illingly ministering unto him in 
both spiritual and temporal things as we 
have opportunity. Every church-member 
weakens or strengthens the church to which 
he belongs by withholding or giving his in- 
fluence. A church divided against itself 
cannot stand, its worship will be cold, its 
works few ; but let all the great evangeliz- 
ing enterprises testify to what can be done 
by a united church, where pastor and peo- 
ple stand together, and work as one man 
for a good cause. It gathers mission- 
schools, it sends out Bible-readers, it estab- 
lishes prayer-meetings, it founds charities, 
it plants churches, it provides work for all 
its members, and the public worship of God 
is best carried out and followed up with 
earnest works of practical Christianity. 



Ipritttal fitt: Iruits ai % Spirit, 

141 



** Now the works of the flesh are manifest, , , , , of the 
which I tell you before y as I have also told you in time pasty 
that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom 
of God, But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long- 
suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, te?nperance,^^ 
-^Gal. v. 19-23. 

142 



CHAPTER IX. 

Fruits of the Spirit. 

A GREAT deal of time has been wasted, 
^ ^ a vast amount of imagination expended 
and innumerable far-fetched theories put 
forth in speculations as to the different con- 
ditions of heaven and hell, and the elements 
which combine to make the one a place of 
joy, the other a place of horror. It has often 
seemed to me that St. Paul has suggested 
to us a vivid picture of each in his Epistle to 
the Galatians, where he says: '^Now the 
works of the flesh are manifest, which are 
these. Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, 
lasciviousness, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, 
variance, emulations, wrath, strife, sedi- 
tions, heresies, envyings, murders, drunk- 
enness, revellings and such like : of the 

143 



144 Heavenward Bou7id, 

which I tell you before, as I have also told 
you in time past, that they which do such 
things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. 
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, 
long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,, 
meekness, temperance." Gal. v. 19-23. 

Imagine a place where the works of the 
flesh — that is, the works of the unregenerate 
heart, for our poor flesh and blood would be 
innocent enough were it not for the sin- 
tainted soul that rules within, — imagine a 
place where such works were allowed full 
sway, indulged without check or hindrance, 
unmitigated by occasional gleams of good 
or by the hopes of ultimate relief. Imagine 
another where every heart glows with, the 
pure warmth and clear light of a sanctified 
nature; where every noble aspiration, every 
intellectual taste, every unselfish purpose, 
every true affection is developed and ex- 
alted — where not one fear shakes the security 
and not one sin mars the perfection. Add 
to these, in one place, the vast displeasure 



Fj'uits of the Spirit, 145 

of the eternal God resting with terrible 
might upon each rebellious soul ; in the 
other, his fatherly love and blessed pres- 
ence shining upon his children ; and what 
can imagination produce that equals these 
two scenes in the height and depth of their 
happiness and their woe? 

It is sometimes very remarkable to hear 
persons express the hope of finally reaching 
heaven, whose lives on earth prove that they 
could not be happy were they to go there ; 
they possess none of the heavenly charac- 
teristics which would make it a congenial 
abode for them. If our blessed Lord were 
to take bodily to the rest of the saints a re- 
bellious, blasphemous, evil-hearted man, he 
would be of all souls most miserable. Vio- 
lence, impurity and greed were his ruling 
passions on earth, and God's pure heaven 
has nothing to gratify them. 

As the tree falls, there it must lie. The 

mere fact of death overtaking the body has 

no moral effect upon the soul ; it lives on its 
10 



146 Ueavenwai^d Bou7td, 

own life beyond the grave as it lived it here ; 
he that is unjust and he that is filth}^ remain 
unjust and filthy still ; he that is righteous 
and he that is holy, let them be righteous 
and holy still — ^the same, but intensified : 
the righteous soul, freed from temptation, 
secure for ever, alive in Christ ; the rebel- 
lious soul, shut out from all hope at last, 
more desperate, more dead in sin. 

To be happy in heaven, that great, won- 
derful home of God's children, toward which 
our eyes look, our hopes aspire and our 
hearts ascend — to be fitted for it, we must 
needs be heavenly-minded here ; we must 
nourish those graces, those attributes, those 
affections, which will flourish in the pure 
atmosphere of heaven. By nature we can- 
not have them, by God's grace we may ; the 
natural stock is poor and unworthy, but God 
has made it capable of receiving the en- 
grafted word which is able to save our 
souls. 

The nurseryman, with faith and patience 



Fruits of the Spirit. 147 

that can look through long years of toil and 
not be discouraged, plants the seeds of cer- 
tain fruit trees. When his seedlings have 
grown to a foot or more in height he sees 
that of themselves they will never make fine 
trees nor produce good fruit. In fact, he 
knew it before, and only expected to secure 
good stock for grafting superior fruit upon. 
When the time arrives, therefore, he cuts 
off the whole top of his little trees and en- 
grafts choice varieties upon them. Then he 
digs about them, enriches the soil, supplies 
them with moisture, frees them from insects, 
prunes them year after year, trains, trims 
and watches with indefatigable care till the 
trees reward him by bringing forth abun- 
dantly the beautiful fruit for which he has so 
long been waiting. 

It is thus, in a measure, that the divine 
Husbandman deals with the plants in his 
vineyard. We have been considering in 
successive chapters the conversion of the 
soul or its reception of the ^^ engrafted 



148 Heavenwai'd Bound. 

word," its manner of growth, the standard 
to which it should attain, the different phases 
of its outer and its inner life and the divers 
means of development and perfection which 
God has given. 

We come now, therefore, to the results 
which the husbandman may well expect to 
find as the effect of his patient training, the 
fruits of the plants he has so watched and 
nourished. What shall the Lord of the 
vineyard say if he find them not at his 
coming? 

They are called the fruits of the Spirit, 
the results of the operation of the Holy 
Ghost in our hearts, and they are essentially 
spiritual graces as shown in the life. 

It is easier to every one of us human be- 
ings to exert ourselves for the accomplish- 
ment of a great feat than to labor on in 
silence with petty obstacles and little con- 
tests. It is grander, more fame-giving, to 
take a city than to rule one's spirit, but to 
rule one's spirit, God's word says, is the 



Fruits of the Spirit. 149 

better of the two. It is easier to comply 
with all demands for the external fulfillment 
of religious exercises than patiently to war 
and struggle with the secret sins of our 
hearts. We cannot all win renown as did 
David in his youth by slaying a lion and a 
bear, but it is a duty that falls to each one 
of us to take the little foxes, the sly little 
foxes that spoil the vines and eat the tender 
grapes. 

** To obey is better than sacrifice and to 
hearken than the fat of rams ;" for it is the 
mind only which renders the outer works 
of any avail. Let us see, then, what that 
mind is which the Spirit can give, what 
those frames and affections are which the 
Master requires of us. 

As the first fruit of the Spirit we are bid- 
den to have love — thank God for inspiring 
the Apostle Paul to put that first on the list ! — 
love toward God and man ; that love which 
forgets itself, which freely gives itself, and 
which above all other things is more blessed 



150 Heavenward Bound. 

in giving than in receiving; that faithful, 
fervent, pure affection which is called greater 
than faith or hope. 

We are bidden to have joy, and I wish 
that every dreary, despondent Christian in 
the world would dwell on that thought until 
it dwells in him. Who can be, who should 
be, so joyful as God's children? — for they 
have such a sure rest, such a firm foundation 
of happiness, such promise of the life that 
now is and that which is to come. 

We are bidden to have peace. What ! in 
this turbulent, sorrowful, changing world? 
Yes, all restless, storm-tossed souls may 
find quietness in simply leaning upon the 
words of Christ. He has promised to give 
his peace unto us, not as the world giveth, 
not grudgingly, not scantily, not to be re- 
turned again, but abundantly of that peace 
of God which passes all understanding. 

Long-suffering for every trying thing that 
meets us ; for the fretting, chafing tempers 
of those about us, for the coldness or ingrat- 



Fruits of the Spirit, 151 

itude of friends, for the malice of foes, for 
the tedious pains of sickness, for the weary- 
ing cares of life. 

Gentleness — oh beautiful, wonderful word ! 
— almost more a flower than a fruit of Chris- 
tian life, in its grace and beaut}'- adorning 
the rough places of the road, leading little 
children, lifting sad hearts, wiping away 
tears and winning wayward souls. St. 
Paul, with all his great and eloquent words, 
never melts the heart so truly as when he 
says, with an irresistible appeal, ^'I, Paul, 
beseech you by the gentleness of Christ." 

Goodness, the staunch upholding of the 
right against the wrong at all hazards, the 
steadfast clinging to principle in the face of 
sharp temptation, the deliberate choosing of 
that which is hard and belongs to the soldier 
of the cross rather than that which is easy 
and of the world — a very bread-fruit among 
the other fruits of the Spirit. 

Faith, the unshaken trust of the child in 
its Father, the confident assurance that He 



152 Heavenward Bound. 

whose hand he holds and who holds his in 
return will lead him straight on through all 
that may await him, and bring him safely- 
home at last; the unfaltering heart that 
leaves all to God ; the unswerving eye that 
looks only unto him ; the willing feet that 
follow unquestioningly where he calls and 
walk with the assurance of a victor in the 
strife through all. Faith is the golden apple 
among the fruits. 

Meekness, a grace to be well thought of 
by disputatious Christians who love their 
racy theological arguments, and find a spicy 
pleasure in opposing themselves to others ; a 
word for the every-day business of \\i% 
abroad ; a word for the household intercourse 
at home ; a word for those in authority, that 
they may ^'in meekness instruct those that 
oppose themselves ;" a word for those who 
are subordinate, that they may ^^ receive the 
word with meekness ;" a word for all, that 
they may show '^ all meekness to all men." 

Temperance, the moderation of the wise 



JF7'uits of the Spirit, 153 

heart in all things ; of the sanctified heart 
that knows how many things are lawful 
which yet are not expedient; of the strong, 
well-stayed heart, capable of self-denial and 
self-restraint, that refuses for itself a surfeit 
of any earthly thing whatever, knowing that 
the wants of the body are best supplied with 
temperate wisdom, and that the wants of the 
soul can be fully satisfied in God alone. 

Wonderful and varied fruits of the Spirit ! 
Well may the apostle say of those who pos- 
sess them, ^' Against such there is no law." 
They enable us to do good to men, to glorify 
God, and to have peace in our own hearts ; 
they make us meet for heaven ; they please 
the Saviour who redeemed us, for he loves 
the souls of his children. St. John declared 
that he had ''no greater joy than to hear that 
his children walked in truth." How much 
deeper and tenderer then the interest of our 
Lord in the progress of the children of his 
kingdom ! How much stronger his desire 
to behold these fruits of the Spirit in their 



154 Heavenzvard Bound, 

redeemed souls ! How can we best gain 
them, keep them, develop them and show 
them forth as he would have us? 

The way is simple, the way is old, long- 
discovered, prized by few, neglected by the 
many, but never changing, never closed. 
The old, old way to heaven is the way to 
sanctification ; the way to glory is also the 
way to these heavenly graces, and all is 
found in Christ our Lord. 

Looking to him^ resting in him^ abiding 
with him is the part of the soul ; his tender 
grace and mercy do all the rest. ''I am the 
true vine and my Father is the husbandman. 
I am the true vine, ye are the branches. 
He that abideth in me and I in him, the same 
bringeth forth much fruit; for without me 
ye can do nothing. Herein is my Father 
glorified, that ye bear much fruit." 



IxutM fife: f|e Christian at fante. 

155 



" Let them learn first to show piety at home and requite 
their parents ; for that is good and acceptable before GodJ*^ — 
I Tim. v. 4. 
156 



CHAPTER X. 

The Christian at Home. 

^TT^HERE is no place on earth so like to 
^ heaven in its rest, its peace and its 
happiness as a lovely Christian family, 
where every member exhibits unselfish af- 
fection, sympathy and helpfulness. But, 
alas ! how easy it is to disturb its quiet and 
mar its beauty ! One person who indulges 
an irritable temper or an unruly tongue can 
take away all its serenity. Piety, like 
charity, should begin at home ; like charity, 
too, it should not end there ; yet we often 
find that persons who are most zealous 
abroad for the advancement of Christ's king- 
dom and the progress of every good work 
are most careless at home in maintaining a 
lovely and Christ-like demeanor. 

157 



158 Heavenward Bound. 

It has often seemed to me that there are not 
many greater obstacles to the rapid growth 
of Christ's kingdom than the irritable and 
repelling conduct of some Christians in their 
private life. The household is the nursery 
of the Lord ; children and servants there 
receive their first and deepest impressions 
of the power of the gospel over the daily 
life, and are attracted or repulsed according 
to the manifestations of Christian character 
which they see in the intimate relations of 
the family. It is amazing to find that good 
and thoughtful people can so overlook their 
responsibility toward those immediately about 
them ; and yet it is a fact that many sincere 
Christians, whose piety is above suspicion, 
whose principles are steadfast and whose 
works of benevolence much to be com- 
mended, have not enough of the more gentle 
graces of the Spirit to keep them pleasant 
at home. 

Abroad, the fact of being among compar- 
ative strangers induces reserve and self- 



The Ch7^istian at Home, 159 

restraint, and prompts the desire to please 
and conciliate. Besides this, the constant 
chafing of family cares, anxieties and fa- 
tigues is withdrawn and the mind is more 
at rest. But at home the yoke galls and 
they fret under it; duties are wearisome, 
and they fulfill them impatiently ; something 
goes wTong, and they give way to petulance 
and fault-finding ; they omit small self-re- 
straints ; they fail to check that ''little mem- 
ber," the tongue, which St. James says is a 
fire, an unruly evil, full of deadly poison; 
and that little member unmastered soon be- 
comes master himself, so that it often hap- 
pens that the very one of the household 
whose example might most surely win and 
soften and bless all the rest comes at last to 
be like the dreaded Hymeneus, whose words 
eat as doth a canker. 

The higher up in the household the un- 
happy influence is the more powerful is its 
effect on the whole family ; but it is not pos- 
sible for any member of any family to be so 



i6o Heavenwa7'd Bound. 

small or so insignificant as not to possess a 
vast power for good or for evil in the fireside 
circle to which he belongs. '' Even a child 
is known by his doings, whether his work 
be pure and whether it be right." Gideon 
tried once to excuse himself from the mission 
of vengeance upon the Midianites, to which 
God called him, by pleading that his family 
was poor in the tribe of Manasseh and he 
^' the least of his father's house ;" but he was 
sent, wdiile greater ones were passed by, 
and he was found well worthy of the name 
the angel gave him of ''mighty man of 
valor." Jeremiah was afraid when God told 
him that he had ordained him a prophet unto 
the nations, and he cried, '' O Lord God, 
behold I cannot speak ; for I am a child !" 
But God sent him and helped him, and he 
spoke his words with great power. 

We are almost forced to believe that there 
is nothing really small in all of God's plans, 
in all the events of our lives, in all the end- 
less workings of the mind of man. We 



The Christian at Home, i6i 

call some sins little sins, we estimate some 
victories over ourselves as little victories, 
but who, save God, can tell the unending 
influence they have upon our souls? 

There is no human being insignificant in 
God's sight; we may think ourselves small, 
or mean, or useless, but let us remember 
that God respects no persons, but watches 
all hearts. The training and development of 
the immortal soul, and its ultimate perfection 
and salvation, are always of vast import in his 
sight ; no less so in the tiniest child or poor- 
est slave than in the conquerors and heroes 
of the world. That alone which gives any 
worth to the highest, gives equal worth to 
the lowest — the deathless spirit within. Let 
us not dare, then, to call ourselves power- 
less while we possess that which our Saviour 
said outweighed the gain of the whole world, 
but rather remember that our responsibility 
is great, our sphere great, our mission great, 
our influence great. Though we may be 

least in our Father's house, like Gideon ; 
11 



1 62 Heavenward Bound, 

though we be children in feeling, like Jere- 
miah ; though we be weak in bodily pres- 
ence, like Paul, — we have each a work to do, 
*' a charge to keep," given us by God, and 
in his strength we shall be able to do it. 

The household circle is especially the 
place where young Christians may exhibit 
a consistent bearing and conversation. Later 
years bring more demands upon them from 
the world and open to them other spheres 
of duty and usefulness ; until that time 
comes, ^' Let them show piety at home," as 
our motto says, and '^ requite their parents." 

The virtues and graces which require to 
be practiced in our quiet daily life are of a 
very simple, straightforward and, some- 
times, almost of a homely kind. The 
family is a little community by itself, and 
one member has no right to do that which 
trespasses upon the time or the convenience 
of the others. 

^'^ Cleanliness is next to godliness,'" said a 
friend lately, ''is a proverb that was so 



The Christia7t at Home. 163 

faithfully rung in my ears when they were 
growing, that they have never lost the last 
echo of it. As it came from the lips of a 
very pious woman, I naturally concluded it 
was a scriptural assertion, and made a long 
search for it one day, with Bible and con- 
cordance, and finding no trace of it, told 
her of my disappointment. ' Write it on the 
cover then, child,' was the undaunted reply^ 
*for surely cleanliness is next to godliness.'" 
If people only knew the trouble, the vex- 
ation to servants, the extra work, the confu- 
sion in the whole family, caused by such 
little commonplace faults as a want of 
cleanliness, order and promptness, surely 
they would cultivate those convenient vir- 
tues with hearty readiness. A few days 
since, a lucky or unlucky draught blew open 
the door of a room in which a dear young 
man of lovely temper and blameless life had 
been dressing for a little pleasure excursion. 
A coat, a vest, pantaloons, undergarments 
and a pair of boots lay in five separate lumps 



164 Heavenward Bound. 

on the floor ; two chairs were occupied with 
clothing he had taken out and concluded not 
to wear ; a soiled collar and discarded cra- 
vat adorned the toilet-table ; the four small 
drawers and three large ones of the bureau 
all stood agape at different stages of protru- 
sion ; the closet door was flung wide open ; 
the water facet was running, and the whole 
appearance of the room seemed to indicate 
that a general chaos was impending. 

*' Order was heaven's first law," we are 
told, but it is the last in the code of many 
Christians, and omitted altogether in that of 
others. Confusion never rights itself; tired 
hands and w^eary feet must patiently restore 
order by extra effort, and faults tiny in 
themselves become giants when they op- 
press or distress other people. 

Even our religious duties should be so ar- 
ranged as not to interfere with the comfort 
of those about us. An eccentric old gentle- 
man among our friends has a habit of taking 
very irregular hours for the practice of his: 



The Christian at Ho7ne. 165 

private devotions. He enters into his closet 
and shuts the door ; but that being done, in 
order effectually to drown any small noises 
that might creep through the key-hole, he 
proceeds to read and pray in such stentorian 
tones that conversation in the adjoining 
rooms has to cease : babies can't go to sleep, 
and visitors have to be sent away from the 
door, till the somewhat obtrusive exercise is 
over. He claims that far greater benefit is 
thus derived to his soul than by less audible 
exercises, but even were this so, can he be 
sure it outweighs the discomfort given to 
others? That is the truest love to God 
which blends with love to man ; that is the 
sincerest goodness which forgets itself and 
ministers to the wants of others ; and selfish- 
ness in religious things is no less blamable 
than in worldly matters. 

A young lady, who had been brought 
up in a church whose forms w^ere few and 
whose service w^as simple, became a ver}^ 
zealous Episcopalian. When Lent drew 



1 66 Heavenward Bound. 

near and she found that early prayers were 
to be held in a church more than a mile 
away from home, nothing could deter her 
from going. Her father had an especial 
liking for having his children all about him 
at breakfast and family prayers, but that 
could not stop her. Her health had been 
delicate, and her physician forbade her taking 
such a long walk and sitting in a cold church 
before breakfast. Still she went. The 
family was large ; the father had to go to 
his business, the children to school, the 
mother to her manifold occupations, the 
servants to their work ; yet, morning after 
morning, for weeks, this zealous young wo- 
man had to have a late breakfast, served 
hot, to warm her after her exposure and fa- 
tigue ; several times she fainted away in the 
hall from over-exertion before she could get 
to her room, and w^hen Lent was over her 
father had the expense and trouble of send- 
ing her away on a little jaunt to recruit her 
wasted strength. 



The Christian at IIo7ne. 167 

The services of every evangelical church 
are to be respected and approved, and un- 
doubtedly early prayers are of great benefit 
to those whose time, health and family ar- 
rangements permit to attend them, but no 
one can deny that this mistaken girl was both 
doing and receiving harm. She thwarted 
her father, annoyed her mother, imposed 
extra work on the servants, trifled with her 
own health and set a miserable example to 
her younger brothers and sisters, in the most 
obstinate and selfish way, and all under the 
plea of fulfilling a religious duty. ''Let 
them learn first to show piety at home and 
to requite their parents." 

The household is not the place for osten- 
tatious deeds ; its life is made up of little 
things ; its opportunities for self-denial and 
usefulness are constant but inconspicuous ; 
its work as incessant and silent as the shin- 
ing of the sun. In our home life, toward 
superiors there should be manifested rev- 
erence and obedience ; toward equals, sym- 



1 68 Heavenward Bound, 

pathy and ready help ; toward inferiors, 
the gentle consideration which every noble 
heart delights to show to those in a po- 
sition of dependence. Toward all, pa- 
tience, love, cheerfulness and forgetfulness 
of self. Faith, hope and charity are three 
of the grandest attributes that belong to 
the Church on earth ; but gentleness, pa- 
tience and self-sacrifice are three household 
angels that whisper and sing and smile their 
w^ay into all hearts, and win them to love 
what is right. All the sermons that have 
ever been preached have not brought as 
many souls into the kingdom of God as the 
sweet and patient daily life of his faithful 
children. We sometimes complain that our 
words are almost unheeded by those whom 
we are trying to influence ; but, leaving that 
to Him who has promised to bless every 
earnest effort, let us concentrate more thought 
upon showing in our own lives how lovely, 
pure and true the religion of Jesus can make 
his followers, for in that w^ay we shall print 



The Christian at Home, 169 

an indelible lesson upon their hearts, whether 
they will or no. 

A little girl said to her teacher not 
long ago, ''Our Lizzie has got to be a 
Christian." 

" How glad I am !" was the reply. 

" But I'm not," she rejoined ; "I'm sorry. 
She isn't half as nice as she was before. I 
suppose she's pious and good, but she's so 
ugly-good ! She reads big, solemn books, 
and hushes me up when I talk, and won't do 
a thing to amuse me ; she tells me of my 
faults all the time, and isn't half as pleasant 
as she used to be. She isn't bad, you know, 
only just ugly-good !" 

Ugly-good ! Have we not had reason to 
apply the child's quaint epithet many times, 
both to ourselves and to others? That se- 
vere sort of virtue which cuts its straight 
path directly through the wishes, comfort 
and feelings of other people may be like the 
march of a conqueror, but, like that too, it 
leaves desolation behind it. 



170 Heavenward Bound. 

'' The wisdom that is from above is first 
pure, then peaceable, gentle, easy to be en- 
treated, full of mercy and good fruits, with- 
out wrangling (marginal) and without hy- 
pocrisy." The commands of Jesus go far 
beyond a loving behavior to those who love 
us. His words are, ''Love your enemies, 
do good to them which hate you, bless them 
that curse you and pray for them which 
despitefully use you ; and your reward shall 
be great, and ye shall be the children of the 
highest; for he is kind unto the unthankful 
and the evil." 

The influences of home go with us all, 
both old and young, to the day of our death, 
and on, beyond, for ever. As our eyes take 
in unconsciously the sight of familiar objects, 
and our ears the hearing of well-known 
sounds, so our hearts are receiving, day by 
day and hour by hour, the incessant, though 
unnoticed, influences of home for good or 
for evil. There is no escape from them for 
large or small ; the tiniest child feels them, 



The Christian at Home, 171 

though not knowing how or what it feels, 
and is drinking in constant draughts of that 
which shall purify him and make him good 
and happy, or which shall sadden and 
harden him. 

A young boy of very amiable character 
was taken away from an unhappy home and 
a wicked mother, whose cruelty and vio- 
lence had embittered all his early childhood, 
and was placed in a religious family. The 
mistress of the house, whose sympathy had 
been much touched by his previous wretch- 
edness, took great pains to show affection 
and kindness to him, and to teach him fre- 
quently about good things. His loving 
heart and quick mind, so long cramped and 
chilled, seemed to expand and develop, like 
long-waiting blossoms in the warmth of 
spring. 

They were in the habit of often reading 
the Bible together in the evening, and one 
night, after the lady's return from a short 
journey, when the chapter was finished, 



172 Heavenward Bound. 

the child looked up in her face and said 
gratefully, ''What a happy home this is, 
and how dreadful that one was ! I have 
been thinking it must be only the difference 
between you and her. While you were 
away the whole house was sad ; when she 
used to go away everybody was only afraid 
she would come back too soon. I some- 
times think she was like the pillar of cloud 
before the Israelites, that was dark even in 
the sunlight; and you are like the beautiful 
pillar of fire, that made everything bright 
even at night." 

Shall we be pillars of cloud or of fire in 
our homes? Shall we darken its bright- 
ness or brighten its darkness? There can 
be but one answer, one desire on that 
point, in every Christian heart. To ac- 
complish it let us give up our wills, re- 
linquish our own plans, bridle our tongues, 
subdue our tempers ; let us show unfailing 
sympathy, affection, patience and cheerful- 
ness ; let us bear one another's burdens, 



The Christian at Home. 



i73 



and forgive one another's faults, and then 
we shall know and feel ''how good and 
pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together 
in unity i" 




175 



" He that walketh righteously and speakeih uprightly ^ he 
that despiseth the gain of deceits^ that shaketh his hands from 
holding of bribes, that stoppeth his eai^s from hearing of 
blood and shutteth his eyes from seeing evil, he shall dwell on 
high; bread shall be given him; his water shall be sure. 
Thine eyes shall see the King in his beauty ; they shall be- 
hold the land that is very far off^ — IsA. xxxiii. 15, 16, 17. 

ire 



CHAPTER XI. 

The Christian i7i the World, 

A LADY was one day passing a garden- 

^ plot belonging to the mother of one 
of her Sunday-school scholars, and, chanc- 
ing to look over the fence, she saw that it 
looked very like the field of the slothful, 
for, lo ! it was all grown over with thorns, 
and nettles had covered the face thereof. 

Knee-deep in the wild, rank growth stood 
the scholar himself, thrashing away at it 
with a great stick. 

''What are you doing, Jack?" said his 
teacher. '' Are you playing or working?'' 

'' Fighting weeds !" he exclaimed, breath- 
lessly, lashing away with redoubled vigor — 
*' fighting weeds !" 

'' It's rather late for that/' she answered ; 

12 177 



178 Heavenward Bound, 

*'they are half as tall as you are ; you ought 
to have begun six weeks ago/' 

'' That's true/' he said, '' but I didn't, and 
now all I can do is to take their old heads 
off before the seeds get ripe. They've 
choked out one crop already, and they've 
got to go I" 

''You must begin earlier the next time," 
she replied; ''and, meanwhile, Jack, don't 
be discouraged, for half the world is at the 
same w^ork." 

"What work, ma'am?" asked Jack. 

"Why, fighting weeds, of course. Every- 
body is fighting them, except those who are 
letting them grow." 

"Ah," said Jack, "I guess you don't 
mean black-weed and clover, that choke 
out cabbages. I guess you mean some of 
those things we had in our lesson last Sun- 
day that choke out the good seed. I never 
thought of it in that way before !" And he 
looked around rather ruefully at the wild 
growth about him, while the lady passed on, 



The Christian ii^ the World. 179 

leaving him to think of the double combat 
that awaited him. 

Many Christians seem quite to overlook 
the fact that our whole course through this 
world must be, in a measure, a long conflict. 
Not a hopeless one, for we have the assur- 
ance of victory at the end ; not a sad one, 
for we fight in a good cause ; not a solitary 
one, for beloved comrades march with us, 
help us and receive our aid in return. Still, 
it is a conflict. Our mortal nature keeps its 
little germs of evil, its tiny seeds of sinful 
inclinations ; and as soon as we sit down at 
ease they sprout and spread. The earlier 
we crush them, the easier and the more eco- 
nomical the process. ''The beginning of 
strife," says Solomon, ''is as when one let- 
teth out water," and the same is more mo- 
mentously true of all evil. 

In those great levees that line the lower 
Mississippi, if a mole does but burrow 
through, so that the tiniest stream of water 
can find a direct passage, however small, it 



l8o Heavemvard Bound, 

works and washes a way for itself with such 
wonderful rapidity that, if not quickly dis- 
covered and checked, an enormous crevice, 
a deluge of water and the flooding of miles 
and miles of low land are certain to ensue. 
So it is with all sin; it is a greedy and an 
aggressive foe ; if we allow it but a little 
vantage ground, it takes more and more, till 
it possesses all. 

It is like the camel who piteously en- 
treated leave just to put his head under the 
flap of the tent where his master was sleep- 
ing with his little children, to shelter it from 
the storm, and when that permission was 
kindly given he went on to thrust in his neck 
and shoulders and fore-legs and ugly hump, 
and, finally, his whole body, taking posses- 
sion of tent, robes, skins and all, and push- 
ing out master and children into the tem- 
pest. 

Or it is like an enormous wedge, slender, 
smooth and subtile at one end, monstrous 
and unwieldy at the other; but grant the 



The Christian in the World, i8i 

thin, fine edge one little opening and the 
rest is sure to follow. 

We cannot, then, too carefully watch the 
beginnings of evil, the first stirring of the 
small temptations that assail us ; the result, 
both to the Church and the world, would 
be inestimably blessed if young Christians 
would only early form the habit of watching 
for and resisting them. Little deviations 
from the absolute truth ; little swervings from 
the straightforward way of dealing ; little 
yieldings to the worldly advice or example 
of others, are all, apparently, very little in 
themselves, are all, truly, only the narrow 
edge of the wedge. 

At home the Christian is prone to a class 
of minor faults, such as fretfulness, impa- 
tience and selfishness. Abroad the tempta- 
tions are deeper and far more momentous. 
In almost every respectable household there 
are strong sheltering protections that shut 
out the coarser and more decided tempta- 
tions ta sin with which we meet in the world. 



i82 Heavenward Bound, 

and an atmosphere of far greater refinement 
than men find in the resorts of business or 
amusement. But in the world there is no 
such artificial protection. A man's shield 
must be the shield of faith, and his breast- 
plate that of righteousness, if he would be 
proof against the assaults that shall be made 
upon him. 

There is not a calling of any kind, how- 
ever honorable in name, that does not ad- 
mit of unfair dealing and ungodly action, if 
the man who follows it has the inclination to 
practice them. There is none so humble or 
low that it cannot be made honorable and es- 
timable by the integrity and perfect upright- 
ness of those who engage in it. There is 
no business, either high or low, that can de- 
mand anything wrong for its legitimate pur- 
suit ; or, if that comes within range of its 
necessities, it is no business for a Christian 
to follow. Our standard of right should be 
simply the standard of the Bible. Custom, 
or the example of others, can never make 



The Christian in the World. 183 

that right which is essentially wrong, and 
yet custom and the example of others are 
two of the most insidious, irresistible and 
bewildering foes that ever meet us in the 
world. 

It is the same with public amusements as 
wdth business- Because certain places of re- 
creation are frequented by hundreds of peo- 
ple whom we like or respect, it seems 
reason enough, on the outside, why we 
should go too ; here again w^e must bring 
the matter under consideration to the test of 
the Scriptures alone- As perfect honor, 
truth and integrity are the first attributes de- 
manded of the Christian in his business, so 
perfect purity, sobriety and great modera- 
tion should be the chief characteristics of his 
amusements- 

The standard of right and wTong has al- 
ready been established by a divine Law- 
giver ; his decrees are pronounced with un- 
mistakable precision in his own moral code ; 
and no approbation of the WQrld, no example 



1 84 Heavenvuard Bou7td, 

of the majority, no authority of custom, can 
make good that which he calls evil. ''Ye 
shall do no unrighteousness in judgment, 
in mete-yard, in weight or in measure. 
Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, 
neither lie one to another." And he ''that 
w^alketh uprightly and worketh righteous- 
ness, that backbiteth not with his tongue, 
that doeth no evil to his neighbor, that hon- 
oreth them that fear the Lord, that s>veareth 
to his own hurt and changeth not, that put- 
teth not out his money to usury nor taketh 
reward against the innocent, he that doeth 
these things shall never be moved." 

The word of God does not condemn, but 
rather commends, the industrious exercise 
of some daily pursuit. It bids us provide 
what is honest in the sight of all men, to 
ow^e no man anything, to be not slothful in 
business. It tells us that the hand of the 
diligent maketh rich and the diligent in bu- 
siness shall stand before kings. In the very 
Decalogue itself the injunction to rest on the 



The Christian in the World, 185 

Sabbath day is no more explicit than the 
other half of the command, ''Six days shalt 
thou labor." 

We have reason to believe that God is 
pleased to have us exercise the numerous 
wonderful attributes of mind and body which 
he himself has bestowed upon us ; the pru- 
dence, caution, intelligence and judgment, 
the powers of invention, of construction and 
of imitation ; the skill of hand or quickness 
of eye or correctness of ear. They are all 
his gifts, not to be laid in a napkin and 
buried away out of sight, but to be used to 
the very best of our ability. 

It is a very trite old saying that '' what is 
worth doing at all is worth doing well ;" 
many people have written it in their copy- 
books at school ; more people still have 
heard it said dozens of times ; everybody 
assents to it as a matter of course, yet not 
one person in twenty puts it in practice. It 
should be written in letters of gold in every 
house, in every school, in every shop, office 



1 86 Heavenward Bound. 

and factory. To slight our work is to de- 
spise the task God has given us to do and 
to refuse the use of those powers he has 
given us to work with. If we have nothing 
but rag-picking or paper-sorting to do, it 
should be done as carefully and conscien- 
tiously as if it were the most important work 
in the world. He that is faithful in that 
which is least is faithful also in that which is 
greatest ; he naturally grows to be so from 
his fidelity in small things. 

Neglect of our present work unfits us for 
future work. There was once a certain 
clergyman who had charge of a small par- 
ish of very poor and plain people. Unlike 
most of the members of his profession, 
whose devotion and unselfish labor are un- 
mistakable, he was rather anxious for a 
prominent position in the ministry, and his 
grand aim seemed to be to prepare himself 
for such a place. His people were simple 
and ignorant; he was studious and ambi- 
tious ; he wrote the most scholarly dis- 



The Christian in the World. 187 

courses he was capable of, and delivered 
them with oratorical precision. The people 
3^awned in his face Sunday after Sunday, 
and finally stayed away. The emptier the 
benches grew the more vehement became 
the preacher's gesticulations, and the louder 
his denunciations of those modern trans- 
gressors who, like the '^diluvian sinners," 
would not listen to the '' preacher of right- 
eousness ;" or else they seemed louder on 
account of the reverberation through the 
vacant space. He was kindly remonstrated 
with by an elder of his church, and re- 
minded of the simplicity and ignorance of 
his people. ''In fact, my dear sir," said 
the elder, courteously, ''you are aiming too 
high to hit such a lowly mark ; your ser- 
mons are beyond their understanding, they 
fly over their heads." 

"I have thought of all that," returned the 
minister, "and I cannot believe it is my duty 
to lower my standard of preaching for a set 
of poor, uneducated people whom I shall 



iS8 Heaven-ward Bound, 

not be with long. I must be thinking of 
my future career, of future usefulness, and 
cannot afford to waste all this time in 
writing simple sermons that will be of no 
further use to me, besides injuring the 
style I am acquiring for more cultivated 
hearers." 

The elder represented to him that it could 
scarcely injure any man's style of writing to 
be obliged to put his thoughts into the sim- 
plest English, but rather an improving ex- 
ercise ; and that whether the style was im- 
proved or no, the souls of the people were 
suffering for want of nourishment ; the fruit 
was hung too high, and they could not 
reach it. 

*' Let them lift themselves up to it, then," 
said the other. '' We cannot raise them by 
lowering ourselves ; let them lift themselves 
up to it." 

Poor people and poor preacher ! The 
congregation starved until famine made 
them bold, and then they parted with their 



The Christian in the World, 189 

pastor. He found another charge of simple 
people too, and pursued the same course 
with them ; and, at the last accounts, he 
was still wandering about at cross-purposes 
with the world, full of a bitter sense of in- 
jury at his want of success, and, probably, 
still looking for that cultivated congregation 
whose ultimate appreciation he has been all 
these years preparing for. It is strange 
that it never occurred to him, when compar- 
ing himself to Noah, that if he had gone a 
step farther back he would have found in 
the ark a much closer similitude to his case, 
for the ark was a hundred and twenty years 
<* a preparing," and finally saved only eight 
souls. 

To-day is all that we can call our own ; 
nobler work or wider spheres may never be 
ours, but to-day, with its appointed task, 
belongs to us, and the conscientious fulfill- 
ment of its duties brings a heart of peace / 
and the Master's commendation, ''Well 
done, thou good and faithful servant ; thou 



190 Heavenward Bound, 

hast been faithful over a few things, I will 
make thee ruler over many things." 

Aside from those more marked qualities 
which we have said should characterize the 
recreations and the business engagements of 
the Christian, there are certain minor atti*i- 
butes also to be carefully cultivated. Our 
sterling Christian virtues will lose half their 
influence if they be not courteously exer- 
cised ; our reasons for concurring in or op- 
posing the customs of the world will fail of 
half their power if they be not gently urged ; 
and this courtesy, this gentleness, this po- 
liteness, should belong especially to the 
Christian. We often find people who have 
apparently very faultless manners, the result 
of outside culture and constant friction with 
the world, and as we have no occasion to go 
beneath the surface in the casual intercourse 
of life, it suffices for its purpose. But when 
startling events come upon people and shake 
them out of their conventionality, no man 
of the world can ever be found so truly and 



The Christian in the World, 191 

thoroughly courteous as the man of God. 
His calmness, self-control and quiet care 
for others come from a source beyond him- 
self; and, while the same outside opportuni- 
ties for culture are open to him as to the 
other, the supplies of divine grace are al- 
ways flowing into his soul. A rude, un- 
courteous Christian is a disgrace to the 
Church, a stumbling-block to the world and 
a sorrow to his Master. He may be sincere 
in trying to copy the inner nature of Christ, 
but he can have no authority for neglecting 
to imitate the blameless outer life which is 
spread out for our example. The match- 
less gentleness, unceasing consideration 
and unostentatious well-doing of our divine 
Master, his caressing ways to little children, 
his patience with ignorance, his instant for- 
giveness of every offence, make him a per- 
fect model for our imperfect imitation. Can 
w^e ever forget the tender pity which made 
him refrain from even looking at the poor, 
guilty woman who was set before him, but 



192 Heavenward Bound. 

prompted him to stoop and write upon the 
ground with his finger as though he saw 
her not, nor heard the words of her ac- 
cusers? 

Be assured that true Christian courtesy is 
a wonderful and beautiful gift ; and while 
the sterling attributes of honor, truth and 
integrity prove a man's principles and piety 
to the world, his courtesy, gentleness and 
thoucrhtful consideration for others throw a 
halo around the stronger virtues which en- 
ables them to win the love as well as the 
respect of those about him, to conquer their 
hearts as well as to convince their reason. 
It is the mollifying oil which secures the 
smooth working of the wheels and cylin- 
ders of vast machinery ; it is the feathered 
tip which carries the arrow straight to its 
mark. 

Let our uprightness, then, be as the 
*^ iron hand" for firmness and strength ; our 
manners as the '' velvet glove" that clothes 
it with softness and makes its hold on others 



The Christian i7i the World, 



193 



as gentle as it is strong ; and our motto of 
action in the world the staunch old Latin 
maxim, used in a Christian way : ^'Stiaviter 
in 7}iodo^ for titer in r^." 



13 




]miM fxU: W^t QiMlm at Math 

195 



" Whatsoever thy handfindeth to do, do it with thy might ; 
for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom 
in the grave whither thou goestP — EccLES. ix. lo. 

" / must work the works of Him that sent me, while it 
is day ; the night cometh when no man can work J ^ — ^JoHN 
ix. 4, 

196 



CHAPTER XII. 

The Christian at Work, 

T T TE can never be grateful enough to our 
^ ^ Maker for the beneficent love he has 
shown in not only allowing, but in exhorting 
us to work for him. Prayer and praise are 
as sweet and refreshing to the soul as dew 
and sunlight; but to every active, energetic 
mind there is an intense delight in earnest 
work. 

There is no portion of Christian duty 
which presents so many attractions at once. 
As a great first motive, it pleases God; it 
copies the example of Christ; it accom- 
plishes good for the bodies and souls of 
those about us ; it gratifies the naturally be- 
nevolent impulses of our heart; it gives 
scope to those powers within us which re- 

197 



198 Heaveitward Bound. 

joice in action ; and last, but not least im- 
portant among its attributes, it reacts upon 
the Christian's own soul, and strengthens, 
develops and beautifies it in direct propor- 
tion to the efforts put forth or the sacrifices 
made. 

It is simply impossible to do much good 
to others without receiving back great good 
to ourselves ; it is like throwing a ball that 
rebounds, or holding up a light that shines 
backward as well as forward. Charity is, 
indeed, '^ twice blessed: it blesseth him that 
gives and him that takes ;" and he that be- 
stows good things, whether gifts of the 
heart, of the head, of the hands or the 
purse, is one of those who ^' scattereth, and 
yet increaseth;" while those who give not 
may withhold more than is meet, but it 
«' tendeth to poverty." 

There is, moreover, accompanying God's 
injunction to us to work for him a promise 
of success for our labors and an assurance 
of reward in the world to come. '' He that 



The Christian at Work, 199 

goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious 
seed, shall doubtless come again with re- 
joicing, bringing his sheaves with him ;" 
and he has declared, for the encouragement 
of all faithful teachers and preachers, that 
his word, which seems so often to fall upon 
stony minds and into thorn-choked hearts, 
shall not return unto him void, but shall 
prosper in the thing whereto it was sent. 

Ultimate success is pledged to us in this 
world and a full reward in the world above, 
but God is often better than his word, and 
frequently blesses us here with such an im- 
mediate and gracious return for our labors 
that we are repaid ten-fold, even in this life, 
for all that we may do in his service. 

We hear a great deal about the ingrati- 
tude of the world, its grasping at favors and 
clamoring for more, and some clever writer 
has called its hollow thankfulness '^ a lively 
sense of favors to come." But every person 
who has been much engaged in truly useful 
Christian work will be able, undoubtedly, to 



200 Heavenward Bound. 

affirm that their experience contradicts the 
cynical assertion. The truth is, that many 
people quite over-estimate the value of what 
they do, and require a great deal of grati- 
tude for very minute benefits. They dwell 
strongly on the '^ cup of cold water," w^hich 
our Saviour speaks of to teach us that our 
least labors of love are not unnoticed by him, 
and, having bestowed a charity as cold, as 
thin and as little worth to themselves, di- 
rectly look for a rich return, profuse thanks 
and a heavenly reward. 

In many cases which come to our know- 
ledge we may rather be amazed at the 
amount of gratitude shown for trifling ben- 
efits, and be touched and humbled in be- 
holding it ; feeling that the poor souls must 
have few friends, indeed, and scanty aid for 
all their needs when they can afford to be so 
thankful for such insignificant favors. 

Gratitude cannot fail to please nor ingrati- 
tude to pain us ; but to let the hope of the 
one or the fear of the other influence our 



The Christian at Work, 201 

work in any way is a dishonor to the work 
itself. S05 also, to see the immediate result 
of our labor is pleasing and heart-cheering ; 
but results long delayed are no excuse for 
discouragement, for we know that we shall 
find them after many days- Higher motives 
and higher rewards can always be ours, 
and we never find the great philanthropists 
of the world stopping to complain of un- 
thankfulness or of failure. If they encoun- 
ter it, as they often must, it seems to pro- 
duce no effect on them ; they walk their 
lofty paths in serene patience, quite undis- 
turbed by the praise or the censure of mor- 
tals — quite undismayed by the long-deferred 
fruition of their desires. 

Howard, Wilberforce and Mrs. Fry worked 
on indefatigably because they loved their 
work, and we cannot imagine them giving it 
up in discontent for want of immediate suc- 
cess or for lack of human applause. 

Dr. Judson, who labored so many years 
so faithfully in India, against untold disap- 



203 Heaveiiward Bound. 

pointments and obstacles, has left no such 
feeling on record. His words upon a dying 
bed were, '' Heaven is sweet, but I shall 
have all eternity to enjoy it, and I should 
love to work a few years longer in the vine- 
yard of the Lord." 

Eliot toiled forty years among his well- 
loved Indian tribes, giving time, money, 
study and great personal effort, with unflag- 
ging zeal and the most undaunted cheer- 
fulness. 

Brainerd, whose brief but excessive la- 
bors as a missionary at different stations 
resulted in sickness and early death, is said 
to have declared himself willing to w^ork on 
for twenty years more without beholding any 
fruits whatever, if thereby he could encour- 
age somebody else to occupy the field, 
whose more efficient labors God might bless. 

We may be assured that there is a bless- 
ing not only following, but accompanying, 
every good work ; and we may be equally 
certain that there is such a work for every 



The Christian at Work, 203 

one of us to do. God has bestowed on us a 
diversity of gifts, he has appointed us differ- 
ent lots; but in every sphere, for every 
soul, there is work waiting to be done. Not 
one of his children, however feeble or young 
or ignorant, may dare to say there is no 
work for him to accomplish. 

Not long ago, in a neighboring city, there 
lived a woman who had once been a profi- 
cient in her trade of dress and cloak-making, 
but a severe illness had shattered her mind 
and quite unfitted her for pursuing it again. 
She could not endure to be idle and useless, 
and so would go about from house to house 
among the poor, to cut and fit their simple 
garments, always refusing to take any pay 
for her labors. ^^ It is a great pleasure to 
me to do it," she would say in her childlike 
way. ''God has taken away a great deal 
of my health and a portion of my mind ; I 
can't go about among grand folks as I used 
to ; I should get all confused with their rich 
trimmings, and make mistakes with their 



204 Heavenward Bound, 

new patterns. I can't be trusted with so 
much responsibihty ; it bewilders me. But 
I love to go from family to family among the 
poor, especially among God's poor. When 
I see the mothers worn out with over-work 
I like to step in and say, ' I've come to sew 
for you a few days.' When I know they 
stop going to church because their old Sun- 
day gown isn't fit to be seen, I like just to 
take it and sponge it and turn it and set 
them going again. When I see the chil- 
dren staying away from Sunday-school be- 
cause the weather has got cold and their 
shawls are thin or their cloaks worn out, it 
makes me happy to wad up the old cloaks 
again, and to fix up warm jackets to wear 
under the thin shawls. It's true," she would 
add, '^ God doesn't expect much of me, be- 
cause he knows that my health is weakly 
and my mind unsettled ; but when the end 
comes I w^ould like to have him say, ' She 
hath done what she could.'" 

Poor broken creature ! What a living 



The Christiait at Work. 205 

rebuke is she to the many professing Chris- 
tians who seem hardly conscious of their 
personal responsibility for the influence they 
have, or fail to have, on those about them; 
who seem to forget that each one of us 
should feel it our individual charge to leave 
the world, when we die, the happier and the 
better for our having lived in it. 

The old saying, that where there is a will 
there is a way, was never so true of any- 
thing as of the will to serve God and benefit 
mankind. 

A lady who was a great invalid felt much 
saddened at one time because it seemed as 
if all channels of active benevolence w^ere 
closed to her. She knew her faith and love 
to God could find exercise in the patient en- 
durance of the many burdens his hand had 
laid upon her, but she longed to do some- 
thing for the bodies or souls of her fellow- 
men. She resolved to watch for every op- 
portunity of well-doing, and prayed God to 
open her eyes to see whatever such he 



2o6 Heavenward Bound, 

might send, for she determined if it were 
possible that even she, invalid as she v^as, 
w^ould do at least one kind or useful thing 
for others each day. 

She kept a little calendar to satisfy her 
own mind and to test the possibility of car- 
rying out her plan, and its record was really 
surprising. 

For weeks and months together there 
were but a few days without the *' golden 
deed" to crown them, and those were times 
of great sickness. Often it was nothing 
more than sending a bowl of broth or a 
plate of fruit to a sick person ; sometimes it 
was only enclosing a little tract or hymn to 
some one at a distance with a few kind 
words ; once it was interceding for a peni- 
tent boy who had lost a good place through 
misconduct. 

With great care she selected a small li- 
brary of the best and most interesting reli- 
gious books she could find, and loaned them 
to servants and poor people ; and then, too 



The Christian at Work. 207 

Sick to teach in Sunday-school, she gathered 
in a class of ignorant children who worked 
all day in the factory and came to her in the 
evening to be taught. Through the chil- 
dren she was enabled to reach the parents, 
and sometimes to render them material as- 
sistance, so that the usefulness which she 
feared was denied her spread and spread 
till it embraced a sphere almost too large 
for one heart and one pair of hands to min- 
ister to. 

It is said that Dr. Arnold's sister, who w' as 
an invalid for twenty years, was the very 
sunshine of the household. Her sick room 
w^as the haven where every one came for 
rest, for sympathy and for cheerful encour- 
agement. 

If those whom God afflicts with bodily 
pain and weakness can accomplish so much 
for his service and the happiness of others, 
how much more may well be expected of 
those who have health and youth and every 
faculty of mind and body ! 



2o8 Heavenward Bound, 

The field is wide, the work is great, the 
harvest ripe and the laborers few. No 
Christian, bearing as he does the name of 
Christy should be satisfied with himself un- 
less he is engaged in some good work for 
the Master. If one kind is not at hand, an- 
other is ; if one sort is not fitted to his pow- 
ers, another will exactly suit him. It is only 
absurd to say we cannot do this or that, un- 
til we have tried, and tried faithfully. We 
can never tell the riches of a mine till we 
work it, neither can we tell what powers 
may be developed in our minds and charac- 
ters when they come face to face with the 
w^ork before us. If we cannot do it as well 
as somebody else might, let us, at least, 
do the best we can, and until that better 
one arrives seek, in all the service that we 
offer our Master, to merit the all-sufficient 
commendation, ^'She hath done what she 
could." 

We are all of us doing an unconscious 
work, whether we will or not — a work that 



The Christian at Work, 209 

■we cannot cease from if we would — the 
work of silent, involuntary influence. As 
noiseless as the falling dew, as the rising of 
the sun, as the setting of the tides, but as 
uninterrupted as they in its constant action, 
its constant influence upon others. It is the 
result of being good more than of doing 
good, it is the effect of righteousness at rest 
instead of in motion. 

Two ladies met in a friend's house not 
long ago ; twenty-five years before they had 
passed a few weeks together, and had never 
met since. 

"I have often wanted to see you," said 
one of them to the other, ''for I owe you a 
great deal. I consider that you were the 
means of my becoming a Christian. You 
changed the whole course of my life, under 
God, in those few weeks we spent together 
long ago." 

''I can hardly believe it possible," the 
other replied in astonishment; ''I was 
scarcely more than a girl, and I do not re- 

14 



2IO Heavenward Bound: 

member ever talking with you on religious 
subjects." 

''You never did, directly," returned her 
friend ; " but your whole life was a lovely, 
pure, faithful. Christian life. It won me, 
and impressed me irresistibly. You were, 
indeed, scarcely more than a girl, but you 
proved to me how doubly winning even 
fresh, bright 3'outh can be, when sanctified 
by God's spirit ; you showed me the beauty 
of holiness, and I owe to you the influences 
that brought me to Christ." 

Thus we see that simply by being good 
we are producing a powerful, though invol- 
untary effect upon others ; but the conscien- 
tious Christian will not be satisfied to rest 
there. In fact, it is almost invariably found 
that those persons who are the most con- 
sistent in the more passive phases of Chris- 
tian life are also most faithful in its active 
duties. 

But how many are there among profess- 
ing Christians who are actually doing all 



The Christian at Work, 21 1 

or a half or even a small portion of what 
they might do? Alas! only a handful, a 
feeble band, a scattered few, compared with 
the thousands who call themselves members 
of the Church of Christ and are pledged to 
do its work and to fight its battles. 

If these multitudes of dormant Christians 
only knew the happiness, the blessedness, of 
the Master's work, they would engage in it 
for their own sakes. If they only consid- 
ered the awful, pressing needs of their fel- 
low-creatures, they would pursue it for the 
world's sake. If they would but remember 
the w^ords of the Saviour and his moving 
example, they would consecrate themselves 
to it for Christ's sake. 

There has been an estimate made with 
regard to individual Christian w^ork in the 
conversion of the world which gives a start- 
ling result. ''If each one," says a recent 
religious writer, *'by proper eflbrt, wdth 
God's blessing, should secure the conversion 
of one soul within the year, then there would 



212 Heavenward Bound. 

be an army of twenty millions of workmen 
instead of the ten only now in the vineyard ; 
and if we could go forward another year in 
the same manner, then there would be forty 
millions of Christians instead of twenty ; the 
next year eighty millions ; the next one 
hundred and sixty ; and at that rate the 
whole world would be converted to Christ 
in seven years. '^ 

Upon whom rests this immense responsi- 
bility? Who is to blame if these possible 
conversions do not take place? Clearly, 
each and every Christian who is failing to 
fulfill his part in active effort for the salva- 
tion of souls. 

By their fruits, it is said, ye shall know 
them ; and if, in despite of the mighty mo- 
tives which combine to impel us irresistibly 
to the most earnest and unceasing endeavor, 
we remain cold, indifferent or idle, the in- 
ference is almost inevitable that our religion 
is but an outside form, that our hearts have 
never been breathed upon by the Holy 



The Christian at Work, 213 

Spirit, nor warmed by the fervent love of 
Christ — that we have^ in fact, like the 
Church at Sardis, a name that we live, and 
are dead, 

'^Beholdj these three years," said the 
master of the vineyard, ''I come seeking 
fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it 
down ; why cumbereth it the ground ?'' Like 
Israel, we are but an empty vine ; like the 
fruitless fig tree, we offer for the husband- 
man's inspection nothing but leaves, 

" And shall we meet the Master so. 
Bearing our withered leaves? 
The Saviour is looking for perfect fruit. 
Stand we before him, sad and mute, 
Waiting the word he breathes, 
* Nothing but leaves !' " 

May God in his mercy forbid such a fate 
to any who bear the name of Christ ! The 
power that turned us from death unto life 
can enable us to make that life a heartfelt 
offering to the Redeemer of the world. By 
the capacity for growth that he has implanted 



214 Heavenward Bound. 

in our souls ; by the standard of attainment 
he has placed before us ; by the spiritual 
influences to be found in prayer and praise, 
in open worship or in secret study of his 
word ; by the winning beauty of those fruits 
he has bidden us bring forth ; at home, 
abroad, in sickness or health, in grief or 
gladness, — may we be inspired, impelled, to 
go forward from grace to grace, from strength 
to strength, doing his whole will. 

Let us work *the works of Him that has 
sent us while it is day, for the night cometh 
when no man can work ; the night of death 
to mortal bodies — the night of eternal gloom 
to immortal souls unreconciled to God. 

What mighty deeds could we not accom- 
plish in our united strength if every one 
who is called by the name of Christ were 
but a faithful, working Christian ! We 
should go forth as an invincible host, an ir- 
resistible phalanx of conquerors ; we should 
speedily possess the whole world, and the 
Church would become what Solomon said 



The Christian at Work. 215 

of her as the Bride of the Lamb, *' Fair as 
the moon, clear as the sun and terrible as an 
army with banners." The prince of this 
world would be dethroned, the King of 
saints established for ever, his peaceful 
sceptre have perfect sway, and the Church 
Militant give place to the Church Tri- 
umphant. 



THE END. 






'-^^-^ im 



